Merging Again
by find-nowhere
Summary: Sequel to Merging...ES, LM, PotF crossover...slash...blah blah blah...picks up where other one left off...
1. Again! WTF!

_**Michelle-Note: **Yeah...I dunno where this will go, or how much time I'll have to write. This is a sequel, and if you haven't done so, I encourage you to read _Merging _or else this won't make complete sense._

_**Warning: **Slashy-ness will be present. If that bothers you, don't read this, mmmkay?_

Merging Again

Chapter 1: Again?! WTF?

Ren: Stevens' House, living room, Sacramento: 3:39pm: 17 June

Tawny had always liked me. Kate was in love with Lizzie, and Lizzie was in love with Kate. I almost made out, and did other things with Kate's ex-boyfriend. Tawny was never going to talk to me again, and Kate left, again. It was raining, and I was standing just inside our front door. I felt like I should at least try to stop the girl, and just do something. I had no idea what I would do. She needed to call a cab and would just be out in the rain until it got here. I could tell her to come inside and wait. It made sense for me to stop her because she was going to be out in the rain, at least, not because of Lizzie, but just because she was a nice girl. Stupid, but a nice girl. I was stupid, and Lizzie was stupid too; the whole damn lot of us were completely stupid. We all messed everything up.

"Go." Ruby mouthed, silently.

I nodded, took a deep breath, then tore the door open intent on running out in to the rain to chase down the blonde girl who was already completely drenched, but I then stopped, and stood there in the doorway as it poured outside.

"I didn't leave this time." She said as she stood directly in front of me.

Surprised, I looked back at everyone else. They were surprised as well, expectedly. Again, they had all turned, and were trying to look out the door. Lizzie had sat up.

"Should we try this again?" I asked.

"Lizzie McGuire…dammit…you're going to forgive me, and I can too change…" She said through her tears, "I didn't leave, and I'm not going to…even if you want me to, I'm not going because you would never leave me alone, and if you want to push me away now like I did you for years, then fine, I deserve it, but I'm tired of running, and hiding, and just walking away when I should stay…" She took a deep breath, "I'm tired of messing everything up, and I don't care about Ethan…or…or about Claire…or you, Miranda. I don't care if you don't like me, and you don't think I'm worth a shit. I'm not worth a shit, and I know it, but I can change…I changed into this shitty person I am now, so I can change back."

Silence.

Kate continued, "I don't care anymore who hears this, Lizzie, but I love you…" She looked away, and tried to wipe her eyes, frantically, then looked back up, "I love you."

A crack of thunder rumbled close by. I grabbed the girl's wet arm, and pulled her in, then slammed the door, saying, "Stop standing in the freaking rain."

She stumbled in, and looked at Lizzie, "Say something, for God's sake, Lizzie. Tawny told me you liked me back, so say something, so I don't feel like a complete dumb ass." Then she added, "Please…"

Miranda spoke up before Lizzie, "You are a dumb ass…a big fucking dumb ass…"

"Oh my God!" Ruby screamed, then dove off of my couch, over Gordo, and tackled the girl who was crouched on the floor next to the loveseat.

I locked the door quickly, and stood in front of it, making sure she didn't try to run.

"I deserved that…" She sighed.

"You didn't let me-" Miranda started to yell, but Ruby laid on top of her and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Shit!" My friend cried out, pulling her hand away, having been bitten.

"You're a dumb ass, Kate, for leaving at the hospital, then coming here, and for walking outside, and making us all think you left!"

We all stared at her.

"I know I messed up…more times than I can remember…" Looking back at Lizzie, she shrugged, "I'm more sorry than I can put into words…"

"Kate…I…" Lizzie started to stand, but Miranda and Ruby guided her back down.

"You have to stay." Ruby coaxed.

"Yeah…don't move, I'll come…there…" Kate said before she began to move slowly and awkwardly toward her, "I'm sorry about kissing Tawny…she thought it would convince you to talk to me…seeing as I was too stubborn to talk to you…"

"Do what?" I asked.

"What're you talking about Ren?" Gordo asked.

"Kate and Tawny…I…I thought that…but…no…it was…"

"Spit it out." Ruby glared.

"You and Tawny kissing was some plan to get Lizzie to talk to you?" I asked Kate.

She nodded, "Did she not explain that?"

"We haven't talked…She…she said she doesn't wanna be friends with me anymore, and she's avoiding me…and Louis it looks like…" I was baffled.

"She loves you, Ren…more than anything…so much that she could never bring herself to tell you…"

"But-"

"No buts…she dated everyone because she was trying to get over you…she thought she would find someone she liked more than you, but she never did…"

"Why's she doing this then?"

"To get over you, Ren…I already told you. As long as she's friends with you, she felt like she'd never be able to move on." Lizzie said.

I rubbed my temples, "Maybe…maybe I don't want her to move on…"

"Maybe you should tell her that…" Kate turned back to Lizzie, "Do you think we could talk…alone this time?"

The blonde on the couch looked at all of us.

"Let's disperse." Ruby said, and headed for the kitchen.

"I'll get you a towel, Kate…you're kinda wet…" Gordo said, and went for the closet.

Miranda looked the new addition to our group over carefully, as if to make sure she was safe, then she looked at Lizzie, and sighed before walking past me and upstairs. I just stood there. I didn't know what to do. For once, I didn't know how to react. Should I go to Tawny's house, or call her, or both, or write her a letter, or just go to her house and try to talk to her? Maybe I should just leave it alone. There was no one in the same boat as me anymore. I was alone, and in a shitty boat, and it was still raining; thundering now too. That didn't make it any easier.

"Ren? Hey…Ren?"

I looked at Lizzie and Kate sitting together, blinked, and went to my room to find the phone. I sat on my bed, and stared at the button for I don't know how long. I pushed in Tawny's cell phone number, and hoped she had it on her because she hardly ever did. It rang five times, and then her voicemail picked up. I hung up, and stared at the buttons for a while more before dialing her home phone number.

One ring…two rings…three rings…

"Hello?" Mr. Dean answered.

"Hi, Dr. Dean, can I talk to Tawny please?"

"She's in the shower." He said calmly.

"During a storm?"

"Excuse me?"

"It's storming…she shouldn't be in the shower…she could be struck by lightning…"

He hesitated, "Oh…um…"

"Is she there?"

He was covering for her, I know it, "It is storming, and I really don't think it's a good idea for you two to be on the phone…lightning and all…"

"I'm coming over. Tell her I'm coming over." I hung up. Then hurriedly put on my flip flops, grabbed my keys, ran down the stairs, and outside into the rain.


	2. Watch The Stitches

_**Michelle-Note: **I actually have been working on this…even though I haven't updated it in forever (please no one hold your breath for updates...you will probably die). I've mostly been working on non-fanfiction stuff, but I have lots of semi-nifty ideas for this that I've been trying to work in, and this might end up a huge story of epic portions. There's gonna be some new characters for your enjoyment and for my amusement. Now I must address something I feel the need to address, and I might come off as an unappreciative bitch, but it's ok (the review I speak of wasn't exactly bad...per se). I'm slightly disturbed because a 14 year old is reading my stuff that is clearly rated M…ok…so it doesn't bother me that a 14 year old is reading it, that's fine really because I wrote my first fic when I was 15 (or 16, I can't really remember), but I think it's the fact that this 14 year old is demanding more sex from me (if you read the description for the M rating...it says NON-EXPLICIT adult themes...ahem). Ok…no. 14 year olds should not know anything about sex, and nor should one tell me to write more sex. I'm 19, and if I don't want to write fucking sex, then I'm not going to. I like plots, so sue me. I write this shit for my own amusement when I feel like screwing around with characters that aren't mine because I think they have untapped potential (if I write sex, then it's to do something for the plot, and I don't do pointless sex...ever!). I do not write this shit to masturbate to, or to fulfill the perverted fantasies of any sexually frustrated 14 year olds. Watch porn if you want sex. If I'm a bitch and I don't appreciate my readers because of this, then fine. I actually talk to a few of the people on a normal basis who read my fics, and they don't go around saying I need more sex in them, and I've never gotten such a request ever since I've written fanfiction. They're happy, I'm happy, and if you wanna review me and make suggestions, don't tell me what to do with MY story, unless it's actually a constructive suggestion to further the plot. End of anger. I apologize, I was probably a tad harsh._

Chapter 2: Watch The Stitches

Lizzie: Stevens' House, living room, Sacramento: 3:56pm: 17 June

"Maybe you should tell her that…" Kate spoke to Ren concerned, then looked back at me, "Do you think we could talk…alone this time?"

I looked at everyone, and hoped they would all take the hint, and go.

"Let's disperse." Ruby said, then went into the kitchen. She was more clever than she let on.

"I'll get you a towel, Kate…you're kinda wet…" Gordo got up and went to the closet.

Miranda looked at Kate sternly. It was kinda scary. I thought she was going to suck out her soul or something. After a few moments, she looked at me, sighed, then went upstairs, but Ren just stood there in her place between the couch and the door. She was staring off at nothing, looking like her thoughts were really distant, and she was clinching her fists.

"Ren? Hey…Ren?" I said to get her attention.

She glanced at us, then hurried upstairs. Gordo ran back out with a big, pink towel, handed it to Kate. She said thanks, he nodded, and then went into the kitchen.

"Lizzie…I'm sorry…"

"You've said that enough…" I tried to reassure her, "Now I'm sorry…for letting Twitty dry hump me at the club…and for ignoring you…and for…pushing you away…and yelling at you…"

"It's ok…really…"

I smiled a little, "Do you realize how stupid all of this was?"

"Yeah, and how stupid we were…"

"You didn't go home…"

"I sorta missed my flight…all of my stuff is at the hotel."

"Have you called your parents?"

"No, they won't notice…" She said sadly, and folded the towel to sit on it, so not to get the Stevens' couch wet.

"When are you leaving?" She could probably stay here if she weren't leaving for a while. The Stevens really didn't mind lots of company. The only person they seemed to mind was Beans.

"I don't know. I figure I'd get a ticket for the flight you're leaving on."

"You just gonna stay at the hotel?"

She shrugged, "No where else for me to stay, is there?"

"You could ask Ren if you could stay here…"

"No, I'd feel bad doing that," She looked suddenly toward the stairs, "Speaking of Ren…"

She came rushing down the stairs with her keys in hand. She said nothing, and grabbed her jacket from the coat rack by the door, then she went into the kitchen. She looked really dazed and out of it. We sat silently until we heard the door out to the garage shut. A second later Gordo poked his head through the door, and asked, "Either of you know what that was about?"

We shook our heads. My best guess was that she was going to Tawny's to try and fix things, or that she had simply lost her grip on humanity and was going to drive off a bridge or something. He shrugged and ducked back into the kitchen. I wondered what he and Ruby were doing in there.

Kate looked at me for a moment, saying nothing, then she reached up nervously and put both of her hands on the sides of my face, "There's something I've wanted to do for a really long time…"

I nodded slightly, pretty sure I knew what it was. I waited for it, and tried to prepare myself, but she just kept looking at me, examining me or something. I probably wasn't waiting nearly as long as I thought I was, and it just seemed like forever, but nonetheless, I grew impatient, and leaned into her. As our lips touched, I felt a burst of pain in my side, and backed away as a reflex, "Ow…shit…"

"What happened? You ok?" She asked, frantically.

I lifted my shirt and examined my few stitches, "I guess I just moved wrong."

"Oh my God, cover that up!" She looked away, "That's so gross! Eww!"

I laughed, "It's just a few stitches."

"And an open wound!"

"It's not open…it's stitched. See," I tried to show her.

"It's disgusting, now put your shirt back down."

Laughing again, I did so, "Now let's get back to what we were doing…"

"I don't even think I want to anymore…you've thoroughly grossed me out…" She crossed her arms, and pouted.

"Alright. Fine." I was fairly certain that she was joking.

Looking at me sort of sadly, she said, "I don't want to hurt you or anything…or for you to bleed on me, ya know…"

"So basically you don't want me to bleed on you?"

"No…shut up."

"Your first concern is totally getting blood on you," I argued.

"It is not…it's just something I considered. It does stain, afterall."

"Uh huh. Whatever."

She looked at me, not blinking, as she moved closer, and kissed me, being careful not to do anything that would hurt me. Just as I begin to get comfortable, the phone rang, and she jumped back.

I giggled a little, "You're definitely jumpy."

"I frighten easily…this was already established."

The phone kept ringing, and I wondered if anyone would answer it. I couldn't answer it because I wasn't allowed to move, and most of the people in the house at the time weren't Stevens. When it stopped I figured whoever was calling had given up or Louis had answered it from upstairs.

"Should we try again?" I asked Kate.

She shrugged, "Something is bound to interrupt us."

"Yeah…" I said with disbelief.

Sighing, she leaned toward me again, and I felt her damp hair on my shoulders.

"Hey, Lizzie!" Louis yelled.

Kate pulled away again, and gave me an I told you so sort of look.

"Yeah?" I saw Louis on the stairs.

He was holding the phone from his room, "Oh…hey Kate…but um…anyway…where's Ren?"

"She left a few minutes ago in a pretty big hurry," I told him.

"Tawny's on the phone, and she said she didn't pick up her cell, and…well…you talk to her," He started coming down, and covered the receiver with his palm, "She sounds kinda pissed about something…more so than normal."

I took the phone, "Hey, Ren left here not long ago."

"She didn't have her phone on her, did she?" The voice on the other side of the line asked, sounding frustrated.

"Not that I noticed. She just had her keys, and a jacket."

"Do you know where she was going?"

"Probably your place…I don't kn-"

"Shit. She can't come over here right now…" She groaned, "There's some people over here, and it's just a bad idea. It's a bad idea regardless, but now is even worse."

"People?"

"Yes. I met some people yesterday, and they're staying at my place for a few days."

"What kind of people?"

"Just people."

Kate elbowed me, and whispered, "What's going on?"

I motioned for the girl next to me to be quiet, and focused on Tawny, "Just don't let her in. I don't know. I don't see why it's such an issue."

"No…it's not that simple. Take my word for it. Look, I can't explain right now because she should be here any second, so I've gotta go."

"Wait. What's-"

"No!" She screamed, then there was a short pause, "Sorry, Lizzie…not you…I just-stop touching that!" Tawny seemed to be having some sort of problem with someone at her house.

"Phil, don't touch it!" Another girl yelled in the background.

"Phil! Lizzie, I have to go…for many reasons…I'll talk to you later, and I'll explain. I promise. Bye," And she hung up.

"Something weird is going on there…" I said, turning to Kate, and sitting the phone on the end table, "There's some girl there, and a guy named Phil…"


	3. Tawny Of The Future! Not So Much

_**Michelle-Note: **I'm glad someone else appreciates my skewed morality, but anywho...pay attention to the settings of the chapters. I've gone back in time in this one. I'm really sorry I don't update more often. I'm so lazy and unmotivated. Thanks for the reviews. I'm losing my mind, and have now decided to make this an ES, LM, and PotF crossover because I have a sick obsession with Keely that I'm now very open about. jk...that sounded wrong, but it was funny. Bwahaha...humor...it's much better than my angry morality rant at the top of a very messed up fic._

Chapter 3: Tawny Of The Future…Not So Much.  
Keely: Sacramento Mall, Sacramento: 1:56pm: 16 June

"Phil, I told you they don't make pimento and blueberry smoothies in Sacramento!" I said to my companion, crossing my arms. He had insisted for weeks that they did.

"Ok, so you win this one," He said, "But remember, people in Sacramento do know how to parallel park."

"What the hell?" Someone seeming a little disturbed said from behind us.

We both turned to see a dark-haired girl looking at us very oddly. I smiled in an attempt to be friendly to what I assumed was a Sacramento native.

"Ok…pimento and blueberry…and parallel parking?" She asked, "Why?"

"You were eavesdropping." Phil pointed out, nodding knowingly.

"No…I was passing by to go get a normal flavored smoothie and overheard your random comments." She rolled her eyes.

"You see…" I started to explain.

"I don't think I even want to know what you tourists are thinking."

"We're not really tourists," I corrected, "We aren't staying…we just came…because we got into some arguments over Sacramento. We're not doing any tourist-y things like buying sou-"

"Sacramento arguments! Great!" She was overflowing with sarcasm, "Where are you two from?"

"I'm from…uh…" Phil began.

"Canada. He's from Canada, and I'm from Canada too…because it wouldn't make sense for me to be here with someone from Canada if I'm not from Canada too…seeing as we came here together because of an argument," I laughed nervously. She couldn't know where Phil was really from. It was a secret.

"Ok…"

"Hi, I'm Phil." He said, extending his hand.

The girl looked at it for a while, and rolled her eyes before taking it, "I'm Tawny."

"I'm Keely."

"Yeah…ok…so what are you really doing here?" She asked us.

Phil and I exchanged concerned glances. Had she seen through our cover? Did she not believe me about Canada! Had she somehow figured out that Phil was from the future! No…no, of course not. I was just panicking for no reason.

She waited for one of us to answer, then she said, "You two are really shady…"

"How? We're not remotely suspicious." Phil said, defensively.

"Yeah. We're just visiting Sacramento because we had some-"

"Stop it already. I can tell you're lying about something, now just fess up so we can move on." Her prying skills were phenomenal.

"We really did want to know if-"

"No." She interrupted me.

"No what?" Asked Phil.

"I've lived here my entire life…" She began, "And I have never encountered two people as nervous as you two, and I don't see what reason you have to be nervous if you're really two weird Canadians who were here researching the town for your own personal amusement. I'll admit that that is a little strange, but I don't see why it's not possible, so…are you two really just crappy secret agents or something?"

"Um…yes?" Phil told her.

I slapped myself in the forehead. Sometimes he could be so dense.

"Can I treat you two to some smoothies of normal flavor?" She asked, sighing for no apparent reason.

"I guess so…" I said warily.

"That'd be great."

"You two find a table, and I'll be back in a few," Tawny said, then headed toward the counter.

"Phil, you're so not smooth about anything. You see a pretty girl and you-"

He grinned innocently, "You're pretty, and besides…Canada? Why would you say Canada? You could have just said where we were actually from…as in where we live…it's not like she asked what year we were from or anything, and you actually are from this time period, so you wouldn't have been lying completely. The Canada thing was uncalled for. You lack smoothness as well."

I groaned, "Don't hit on me, and I was under pressure, ok?"

We sat down, and Phil looked at me, slightly disappointed, "Why can't I hit on you?"

"We've been over that before, and right now we should focus on our current situation."

"What situation?"

"That girl is suspicious!" I hissed.

"She is not. You made us seem suspicious."

"She is."

"Is not."

Glaring at him, I resorted to saying nothing.

"Uh huh," He leaned back in his chair triumphantly, "This place seems fun."

I tried to relax and looked around at the people moving about the mall hurriedly. It did look sort of fun, and everyone seemed friendly. It appeared to be a friendly sort of place. I wouldn't mind spending time here under less pressure. Going anywhere with Phil was stressful, he still wasn't properly adjusted to life in the present.

Tawny came back, skillfully carrying three smoothies. She sat them all down in front of her, and studied us momentarily, "I want information in exchange for smoothies."

"What sort of information?" Phil asked.

"Who are you?" She said glaring at him and pushing the cup in his direction, "It's strawberry banana."

"Maybe I don't even really want it. How about that?"

"Who are you? It's a valid question."

"Phil Diffy. I'm eighteen, my parents are Lloyd and Barbara, and I have a sister named Pim, and-"

"Good enough." She shoved the cup to him, then turned to me, and tried to stare me down, "Where are you from?"

"Pickford." I stated, honestly.

"Pickford? Is that in Canada?"

"Yes. Pickford, Ontario, Canada." I lied a little…well a little more than just a little, "This is insane."

"Yes, yes it is. What's your name?"

"He only had to answer one question."

"You're more suspicious than he is."

That was ironic. I sighed, "Keely Teslow."

"If you're not tourists, but you came all the way from Canada, and you aren't staying…when does your flight back to Canada leave?" She asked, "By the way, your smoothie is berry blast or something along those lines."

Phil slurped loudly next to me, and I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. We had teleported here with one of his dad's gadgets from the future. We had been here for no more than fifteen minutes when we encountered Tawny and we were planning on leaving in a few minutes, but all had been foiled. I glanced at my watch, "Um…thirty minutes, so we should go."

"Right. So you came here earlier today to do your research, then you planned on leaving right after?"

"Yes."

"You're very sketchy."

"Why? Do you not believe me? I think my story is probable." I said to her, defensively.

She pushed my smoothie toward me.

"This is the best smoothie I've ever had." Phil commented randomly.

"He's cute. You two together?" Tawny asked curiously, now seeming a lot more friendly, and ignoring my question.

"Nope," Phil answered, "Thanks for the smoothie by the way."

"No problem."

"We were together…once…years ago."

"And you're still friends? That's lovely."

I shrugged.

"I'd ask you two to stay a while at my place if your flight weren't leaving so soon…" She said, looking at Phil seductively. She was the shady one, and I would not let her have Phil…not that I was being possessive of him.

"We could work something out," He said before I could protest, "We could call our parents, and-"

"Phil!" I said between my teeth, "I told my parents I'd be home by nine!"

"Nine!" Tawny shouted, shocked, "There's no way you could be back in Pickford, Ontario, Canada by nine."

"I can explain…" Phil said, and I thought I would go into cardiac arrest, "It's the time difference and time zones."

Tawny did the math in her head quickly, "No."

"It's…it's…" I tried to say, but I could come up with nothing.

"Pickford isn't in Canada, is it?"

"No…" I confessed.

"Come on, Keely, let's just stay here a few days…like a vacation…it won't hurt anything."

Tawny seemed pleased, as if she'd planned for this to happen. She was trying to steal Phil from me. Not that I cared. He wasn't mine, technically. She could have him. I had no claim over the boy. None at all, and I was not jealous, and I was not being possessive, I swear. He was how we were getting home and he wanted to stay, there was really nothing I could do.

Tawny probably just worked for the CIA, and she has somehow uncovered us, and she was going to turn Phil and his family into the government, and me along with them for assisting them, and being the only other person that knew about their secret.

I didn't have any other clothes.


	4. Oh Em Gee

_**Michelle-Note: **Due to excessive demand from a certain person, I am writing again. Gosh. I had to reread this entire thing, and I encourage you to do the same. haha_

Chapter 4: Oh Em Gee!  
Tawny: Deans' House, Tawny's room, Sacramento: 4:12pm: 17 June

We couldn't get a word out of the two until the next day during quite a storm. By "we" I mean me and my father. Rightfully so, he wanted to know about the people who would be crashing in his house for the next few days, and why exactly I had brought them home. I brought random people home in occasion, he enjoyed talking to them, and prying into their subconscious and whatnot. The answers we finally got out of the most recent two were not what we expected to say the least.

"You're…what?" I asked Phil again, completely convinced that I had misheard him completely. The rain outside was rather loud.

"Yes, son. What did you say?" My dad asked as well. He was sitting next to me on the couch, leaning forward and listening intently with wide-eyed wonder.

Phil's friend Keely sat over in a chair away from us, shaking her head and hitting herself in the forehead with her palm while mumbling. She didn't seem particularly stable, but was cute nonetheless. Her mannerisms and extreme stress at the situation were quite adorable.

"I said…I'm from the future." The boy repeated.

"Thefuture!" Keely yelled, "It's a town…"

"In Canada?" I asked sarcastically, and couldn't stop myself from smiling at the poor girl's expense.

"What do you mean you're from the future?" My father asked.

"Mr.-I mean…Dr. Dean…I am from the year 2121, and my family was doing some time travel, and well…we got stuck here…oh, three years ago or so."

Keely groaned, and sounded like she was dying.

"What does she have to do with this?" I nodded to the blonde who was losing her grip on humanity.

"She's my best friend. She's the only person that knows…or…well…knew because you two know now."

Then I said firmly, "You're shitting me."

"Tawny, your language. These are guests." My dad was still enthralled.

The phone rang interrupting what was sure to be a firm lecture about my manners, and I went to the caller ID. I saw a familiar number that I didn't care to think about, not even for a moment. "It's one of the Stevens. Dad, answer it…please…"

"Still sore at Ren, I guess? Do I tell her you're not here?"

"Do something."

He snatched up the mobile receiver next to him on the end table, "Hello?"

A pause followed, and everyone listened, except Keely who seemed to be hyperventilating, and going into cardiac arrest.

"She's in the shower." He responded next, very calmly. Bad idea. I tried to motion for him to quickly change his story, but it was too late. He next said "Excuse me?" Then he released an, "Oh…um…"

I winced. Ren was too smart for this. It was planned poorly. We could have done better had she not caught us off guard. I figured there was no hope, but then my father said, "It is storming, and I really don't think it's a good idea for you two to be on the phone…lightning and all…"

He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it, then put it back once more before hanging it up.

"What happened?" I asked.

"It was Ren. She hung up on me, and said she was coming over."

"Now!"

"Apparently. That not good?"

"It's horrible!" I didn't feel like dragging my father into the truth that the stupid girl broke my heart, "We have to sort out these people first! She can't know about them!"

"You shouldn't know about us!" Kelly shouted. Suddenly, and swiftly she sprang to her feet and began to smack Phil in the side of his head in the most girly way possible. It didn't look painful, mostly just jarring and surprising, "You're so dumb! You can't just tell strangers this stuff! What possessed you to do that!"

"Whoa!" I got up and put my arms around the girl's waist, and pulled her off of her friend. Finding myself terribly distracted by how nicely she smelled - coconut lime verbena, I think - I came up with what would probably turn out to be an infamously terrible idea. Another one. I sat her back down in her chair, and held onto her wrists, leaning in close to her, "Don't kill him, k?"

She pouted, and squirmed, trying to pull away from me.

"Don't molest our guests." My dad said from behind me out of nowhere.

I let go of her, "I wasn't going to. Toss me the phone."

He did, and then refocused on Phil saying, "Tell me about your family life as a child, please."

I dialed Ren's cell phone, figuring she had probably already left her damn house. It went to her voicemail. Fuck. I dialed her house. It rang for what felt like forever, and then Louis picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Louis. Oh my God. I need to talk to Ren."

"Tawny? Are you ok? You've been kinda-"

"Shut up. I need to talk to your sister, please."

"Fine." There was a long pause, which also felt like forever, "She's not here."

"Fuck! Who is?"

"Lizzie and Ruby and shit." He answered.

"Ask Lizzie where Ren went."

"K." Another long pause, then he yelled without bothering to cover up the receiver, "Hey, Lizzie!" After a moment I also heard him say, "Oh…hey Kate…but um…anyway…where's Ren?"

She said something that I couldn't quite make out over the phone, and Kate was there? What the fuck?

"Tawny's on the phone, and she said she didn't pick up her cell, and…well…you talk to her," He said, "She sounds kinda pissed about something…more so than normal."

"Hey," Lizzie said, "Ren left here not long ago."

"She didn't have her phone on her, did she?" I asked, highly frustrated.

"Not that I noticed. She just had her keys, and a jacket."

"Do you know where she was going?"

"Probably your place…I don't kn-"

"Shit. She can't come over here right now…" I groaned, "There's some people over here, and it's just a bad idea. It's a bad idea regardless, but now is even worse."

"People?"

"Yes. I met some people yesterday, and they're staying at my place for a few days."

"What kind of people?" She asked curiously.

"Just people."

"What's going on?" I heard Kate whisper in the background.

Lizzie then suggested, "Just don't let her in. I don't know. I don't see why it's such an issue."

"No…it's not that simple. Take my word for it. Look, I can't explain right now because she should be here any second, so I've gotta go."

"Wait. What's-"

"No!" I screamed, seeing Phil reaching into our fish tank, "Sorry, Lizzie…not you…I just-stop touching that!" This kid was being really weird all of a sudden.

"Phil, don't touch it!" Keely yelled.

"Phil!" He was trying to catch our clown fish, "Lizzie, I have to go…for many reasons…I'll talk to you later, and I'll explain. I promise. Bye," And I hung up. Tossing the phone onto the couch I went to stop Phil from killing our fish, as my dad watched on in child-like amazement.

"What are you doing!" Kelly asked frantically, "You've seen fish before!"

"But look, it's Nemo!" He laughed.

"You don't try to catch other peoples' fish." My dad told him sternly and as if he were five years old, "I believe you never got to experience a normal childhood, and these acts of repression and creating a fantasy world in the future were your means of compensation."

Keely looked at my father like he was insane, and then to my utter dismay, the doorbell rang.

"Shit!" I screamed, and then covered my mouth, hoping Ren hadn't heard me because then she would know I was here.

"I am so confused…" Keely muttered.

I grabbed her hand and the back of Phil's shirt, "Dad, I'll hide them, you make Ren go home."

He eyed me suspiciously as the doorbell rang again, "There is something else to this and you will explain later, dear."

I rolled my eyes, pulling the two strangers into the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Keely asked, and Phil wandered away to do some further investigating. She failed to notice that I was still standing there holding her hand, and I would have chuckled slightly had Ren not been right outside, and the thought of her made me want to vomit a little bit.

"You wouldn't tell me what was going on with you two."

"I had reasons!" She said between her teeth, "I have to protect-"

I cupped my hand over her mouth, and listened to my dad stutter. He was usually so much more smooth! Then I heard her and I knew why.

She was crying, "Please…Mr. Dean…I need to talk to her…"

"I…she…not here…" He paused, "Would you like to talk about what happened?"

"Shit…" I whispered.

Keely tried to say something, but I held her mouth closed, and squeezed her hand. Her skin was exceptionally soft.

"Mr. Dean…I don't know if it would…be appropriate…I…" She sniffled, "I need to apologize to her…"

"She actually hasn't told me what this is about. Do you want to come in and sit down? I'll get you some tea…but…Tawny…she really isn't here."

"Damn…" I muttered.

He let her in, and she sat down in the couch. My dad then walked casually into the kitchen, found me behind the door, and whispered, "What the hell happened between you two, Tawny? I think you broke Ren Stevens."

"Dad…I don't wanna talk about it. Let her tell you." I grumbled.

"Are you just going to hide out in here until she leaves? Don't you feel bad?"

I glared as he tried to guilt trip me, and still held Keely hostage. She had finally relaxed. He poured Ren a glass of tea, and then looked back at me, shrugging, "Make your own decision then."

Keely looked at me pathetically, and I let her go and we sat down on the floor just inside the kitchen door, "So…Phil's really from the future?"

She nodded, "I…he…" She moaned, "I just…telling people is a bad idea."

"Prove it."

"Prove what?" She asked.

"That he's from the future."


	5. Good Thing Her Dad's A Shrink

**_Michelle-Note: _**_Not that massive numbers of people are reading this, but I CAN FINALLY UPLOAD AGAIN AFTER NOT BEING ABLE TO FOR THREE DAYS! I start writing again after months of not doing so, and then I can't upload. It was whack. Very frustrating. Oh, and when I was rereading all of this nonsense, I noticed and insane amount of silly spelling errors and such. I clearly am not much for proofreading. haha  
_

Chapter 5: Good Thing Her Dad's A Shrink  
Keely: Deans' House, Kitchen, Sacramento: 4:42pm: 17 June

So I told Tawny everything. Literally. Everything. Not leaving out any tiny detail of my life as the best friend of Phil Diffy. It was nice to get it off my chest really. I felt like my whole life was sort of a lie because I was keeping such a huge secret. At some point during my story-telling of epic proportions, Phil came and sat with us as well, having thoroughly explored the kitchen.

"Sometimes he gets like this…when he sees something he's never seen before. He's never been to Sacramento, and Pickford is pretty limited." I said.

Tawny blinked her piercing blue eyes, and said nothing.

I turned to Phil, "Get out one of your future gadgets and show her something."

He pulled out a kind of remote control from his back pocket, pressed a button on it and a houseplant that had been in the corner changed into a large green pillow.

"Fix that right now." Tawny said, bluntly. "And that'll do. I have no choice, but to believe you or conclude that I have been slipped some LSD when I wasn't looking."

"There are so many interesting things in your house." Phil said, changing the pillow back into a plant.

"My dad collects shit."

Phil nodded in amusement.

It was my turn to ask questions now. Phil was old news to me, and the goings on in the Dean household at present seemed far more exciting, "So…you and that girl…what's up?"

Tawny stared at me, almost stared through me, "She..." She hesitated, "I don't wanna talk about it."

"I told you about Phil and me."

"But-"

"Look. I'm going into broadcast journalism, and whatever this is would make a fabulous piece. It's filled with mystery and emotion. I'd like to get to the bottom of it."

"No, I-"

"I'll get the story if I have to go out there and get it from-"

"First of all…no one cuts me off. I do the cutting off. Second of all…" She paused, and her dad reentered.

"Tawny Dean." He crossed his arms, "My ever-pragmatic, only daughter."

All three of us looked up at him.

He continued, "Ren went home, and I am sad to say again…I think you broke Ren Stevens and her parents are going to be very angry with you."

"Dad." She said forcefully between her teeth.

"Ok…yes, she's not broken, per se, but you…you are not yourself." He smiled, "She said she still wants to be friends, and it would mean a lot to her."

"Did she tell you what happened?"

"More or less. I got the gist. I can't believe you didn't tell me about this development."

"How about we not discuss this in front of them?" She said, nodding to us.

I was confused to say the least. Sighing in frustration, I said, "We'll go upstairs."

"No. Don't." Tawny responded quickly, and grabbed my hand before I could get up. I waited for an explanation, but she simply said, "Just don't."

"Tawny, I think you can make your own decisions, and you usually make them well, but I feel inclined to tell you that this one is not being made as well as it could be…" Dr. Dean said in a fatherly tone.

"She's going away to Princeton in a few months." She argued, still holding my hand. I didn't know if she even realized it, but she was suddenly so morose that I didn't bother to pull away. Her hand was really cold.

"You could be missing out on a lot of fun to be had in these few months, and she'll be back you know…for vacations and such."

"I don't want it if it isn't going to last." She argued.

Oh, this was so very cryptic. Phil was listening to their conversation intently, as well. He looked alert and was trying to piece the great mystery together, but he was having as little success as I.

"That didn't matter with you and anyone else."

She took a deep breath, "Ren isn't just _anyone else_…"

From this, I'd have thought that Tawny was in love with the girl, but that struck me as a very rash judgment, and journalism taught me not to assume. If my assumption was correct then that put me holding the hand of one of those homosexuals.

"Ah…emotions. Silly, fickle buggers." His attention shifted to our hands, "And why are you holding her hand, dear?"

She pulled away as soon as it was mentioned, rolled her eyes, and then sulked out quickly.

Dr. Dean looked toward Phil, "Alright. Back to you. You talk to me, unlike my own daughter."

My friend followed him back into the living room, and left me sitting there on the linoleum. So much drama in Sacramento. Not like there wasn't drama in Pickford, but it was mostly Phil-drama, and some fiascos caused by his sister Pim. I got up and walked through the living room, up the stairs to Tawny's room. I found her door shut, and leaned in to see if I could hear anything. Not a sound. I knocked lightly. No answer. I turned the knob and opened the door a little so I could peek in.

"Tawny?" I whispered, looking around at her elaborate decorations, and artwork covered walls.

She was lying on her bed with her face buried in her pillow. Her answer was severely muffled, "What?"

"I was just coming to…uh…" I actually didn't know why exactly I had gone to her room. I was tired of listening to Phil explain things I already knew, I suppose.

"If you're coming in then come in…if not, get out."

I stepped inside and shut the door behind me, "What's wrong?"

She rolled over onto her back, but kept the pillow over her face, either a poor attempt to suffocate herself or trying to prevent me from seeing that she was crying. She grumbled back, "Nothing."

"You're totally lying." I said and sat down on the edge of her bed. I just wanted to hug the poor girl. She needed more hugs, so I concluded.

"You're totally annoying." She said, mocking me blatantly.

I poked at her, "What's wrong."

"Nothing."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Tawny, what's wrong?"

"Is this how you get information out of people for your journalism shit!"

"What's wrong?"

"I'm unhappy!" She yelled finally.

"Wow. You're so emo."

She lifted the pillow from her tear-dampened face and gave me a look like she wanted to suck out my soul, "What…the…fuck?"

I smiled and shrugged, "Sorry I was so whiney earlier."

"It's fine. I thought it was cute." She said covering her face again.

"So…what do you think about Phil being from the future?" I asked, trying to start conversation.

"I dunno…the implications haven't properly sunken in yet."

I was sure that would get the conversation going, but it apparently was of little interest to her, so I went out on a limb, "So…are you in love with that Ren Stevens girl or what?"

With a fury I never expected so suddenly, the pillow that had a second before covered her face impacted me in the side of the head, then the other side.

"Yes!" She screamed, and continued to take out a great deal of anger on me, but with just a pillow, and I was grateful for that.

I tried to shield my face, but the onslaught continued, and I didn't have time to properly consider the fact that I had never known a real lesbian before. Then before I knew it she had tackled and was straddling me, pinning me down. Her hands were on my shoulders and she shook me forcefully, "It's driving me crazy, Keely! You don't understand! I'm rational! I'm calm! But look at me now!"

She was certainly not rational, or calm. She did indeed seem a tad deranged.

_**Another Michelle-Note: **Yeah...so...I've grown tired of writing things where all the gay people get disowned by their parents, and I have thusly created a happy lil world where most everyone's parents are fine with the matter, and all the drama comes from everything else. Yay.  
_


	6. A Free Counseling Session with Dr Dean

_**Michelle-Note: **The document manager only lets me submit when it feels like it, apparently, but here's another chapter. I have several more already written...dunno when I'll be able to submit them though cus of the wonky document manager thing that hates me._

Chapter 6: A Free Counseling Session with Dr. Dean  
Ren: Deans' House, driveway (inside Ren's Jeep), Sacramento: 4:20pm: 17 June

I rested my head on the steering wheel. What was I doing? What the hell was I doing? What did I want? Was I somehow in love with Tawny and didn't realize it? No. No way. The girl was just one of my best friends, and now she was gone, but she couldn't possibly be in love with me. I'm so boring, and she never showed any interest in me at all. Everyone else: yes. Me: no.

This was all very silly of me, and I thought about going home as the rain pattered on my windows.

What was it like to be in love anyway? Shit if I knew. This wasn't love though. It couldn't be. Maybe I had some small girl-crush on her. She was terribly attractive and quirky like none other, but really…love? No. Ren Stevens is not gay. Maybe a little gay, but not gay enough to be gay. I just missed my friend is all. I was here to get my friend back.

With that thought I took a deep breath, opened my door and ran to the porch. At least that was my plan. In actuality, I hit a slippery patch of grass and went sliding down into the mud. The rain dripped from the sky consistently, and it sunk in that Tawny was, in fact, enamored with me. Everyone was right. And here I was sitting, in her yard in the rain, not in love with her, trying to go be friends with her. What would it be like for her to keep being friends with me? I had no idea what it was like before, but it clearly made her breakdown that I was going to hook up with someone else. Yet, she never came on to me, not even once, except with an occasional suggestive statement made in jest. Perhaps that bit about how behind every joke there's some truth is actually true.

When the dampness penetrated my jeans, I was snapped back to reality. I got to my feet carefully, and moved up the stairs and toward the door. It would break this girl's heart to be friends with me, knowing I'd eventually find someone for myself. She'd get over it, right?

I rang the door bell, and waited. I thought about leaving again. But what if I am in love with Tawny? I wouldn't know being in love from having eaten bad take-out, or would I? It's just supposed to be something you know, I thought. I felt the tears welling up in my eyes, and pressed the door bell again. It was a little upsetting that I didn't know what it felt like to be in love, and I had ruined a perfectly fine friendship because I was too dense to see what was going on around me.

Dr. Dean answered the door, of course. Tawny was probably pretending she wasn't home. She wanted nothing to do with me now. He seemed twitchy and nervous. It would have made me laugh had I not been so devastated by my epiphany.

"I…need to talk to Tawny…"

"She…Ren…she's not….um…here." He stuttered, "She…she went to…err…Twitty's house…"

"Please…Mr. Dean…I need to talk to her…" I said through my tears.

"I…she…not here…" He paused, "Would you like to talk about what happened?"

He seemed his normal eloquent self once he wasn't lying to me, "Mr. Dean…I don't know if it would…be appropriate…I…I need to apologize to her…"

"She actually hasn't told me what this is about. Do you want to come in and sit down? I'll get you some tea…but…Tawny…she really isn't here."

I nodded. He could get Tawny to talk to me if I told him what happened. She'd listen to her father, maybe. She was so stubborn.

He showed me to the couch and then went into the kitchen. I heard voices, but couldn't make them out. Tawny was in there, hiding. It wasn't like Tawny to hide, but she was definitely doing it. She really did not want to see me. I cleaned myself up, and sucked up any more overflowing emotions that I felt.

After a time, which was more than necessary to get tea, Mr. Dean returned. He sat the glass in front of me then sat down himself in a chair he pulled up across the table from where I sat, "What brings you here Miss Stevens?"

"Well…I wanted to talk to Tawny…"

"But at present that is not an option, so do tell me what my darling daughter has done to you."

"Oh…um…nothing…" I didn't know what was ok for me to say and what wasn't, "You do know your daughter is like…um…she's…uh…"

"Oh, yes. Yes. Of course." He eyed me for a moment, "Ren, did that silly daughter of mine break your heart because believe me, you would not be the first."

"No…not that I know of."

He nodded, "She hasn't mentioned this situation to me. Usually when she wants me to cover for her to avoid someone she actually explains why…not that…I am covering for her…um…at this time…with…uh…you and all."

"It's ok, Mr. Dean. She's in the kitchen, isn't she?"

"Yep. She'll be rather sore with me if I let you go in there."

I shook my head, "I don't want to. She doesn't want to see me…"

"And why is that? You're such a nice girl, and she's like Tupperware. What could you have possibly done to her, since clearly it wasn't her doings that caused this?"

"Well…it was her…indirectly because she was making out with Kate, and I…I dunno."

"Jealous?"

I shook my head again, "No. Just devastatingly lonely, I think. Everyone had someone except me."

"What happened next?"

"Well…I was going to just have some fun before I leave for college…and I…well…I decided I wanted to hook up with this boy Ethan…"

His eyes grew wide, and he listened intently and completely focused, "I see…"

"Tawny came in and stopped me…and there was a lot of yelling…and I don't even really remember what about exactly, but that was it…"

"Hmm…" He pondered.

"So…well…she doesn't wanna be friends with me anymore, and everyone says it's because-"

"Right. Right. Yes. Uh huh." Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "This is an interesting development."

"Huh?" I was a bit confused.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I am using my daughter as a case study. She's well aware of it, and this is just…interesting. You, Miss Stevens, _have_ done something to my daughter."

"Wha-no. I haven't. I…" I didn't know what he meant.

"Oh no. It's fine. She's always been very open with me until recently…"

"I'm the reason for Tawny's not talking to you?"

"No, no, no. Don't take it as me _blaming_ you. It's completely fine. It's nothing you did intentionally."

He was a strange man, and I did not quite understand, nor did I understand whether or not he actually understood, "Do you know what's going on?"

"I have a very good idea. Is there anything you would like me to tell Tawny for you?"

I thought for a moment, and sipped the tea, "I want to be friends with her…and it would really mean a lot to me if we could just make it work until I leave at least…"

"Good." He nodded, "I agree."

"Should I go now?"

"No, finish your tea. Is there anything else you think you should tell me?"

"No…not really." I sipped at the tea some more, while Tawny's dad studied me closely.

"She's being quite selfish."

"I suppose I am too though."

"Yes. Probably." He paused, "You broke my daughter."

I did what! What was he talking about?

He laughed slightly, "No, I'm just kidding. Did you fall down outside?"

"A little bit."

"A little bit?" He laughed again, "Oh my."

What a strange relationship Tawny and her father must have. They were very close, and Tawny's mother was always away on business, and I seldom saw her at all. I finish my tea, and then said, "I should be going…I guess."

"Drive safely, and try not to slip in the yard."

As I stood, I said, "Thanks, Mr. Dean. I really miss her…and…I want her to be ok. If she really doesn't think she can be friends with me without being more miserable than she is not…then…then I'll deal with missing her."

He nodded, "Have a good afternoon."

"You too." And with that I headed out the door. The rain had lightened slightly. Just slightly.

I got back into my Jeep, and it hit me that this was partially Ruby's fault. Then I caught myself and it hit me that there was no point in laying blame. After I started the engine I sat there for a moment and watched the rain drip in irregular patterns down my windshield. Was I in love with Tawny? Was the always perfect Ren Stevens actually a dyke? Oh no, of course not.

If Tawny were my friend she would want me to be happy. She would want me to be happy if she really cares about me as much as she supposedly does. Maybe Ethan would have made me happy. Oh hell no, that wasn't me. She was right. Why was I such an ass to her that night? She just didn't want me to do something dumb. I probably would have regretted it had I done anything. Why did I go and do something so stupid? What made me think that was a good idea? Was I really that lonely or was I in love with Tawny and subconsciously trying to hurt her for hurting me?

"I would know if I were in love with her!" I yelled at no one in particular. I guess I just did it for myself. I banged my head on the steering wheel and accidentally caused the horn to blow, scaring me half to death and reminding me that I was sitting in my Jeep in her driveway.

I drove home. Thinking of nothing. When I walked inside my house, I saw Lizzie and Kate. I looked at them and it made me a little nauseous so I went upstairs. Why didn't Tawny just tell me she liked me? What the hell would I have done when she did? I'd probably just glaze over and pretend I hadn't heard it. Silly Ren, so smart, but so intensely stupid at the same time. That was me.


	7. Lots Of Talk, No Action

Chapter 7: Lots of Talk, No Action  
Kate: Stevens' house, living room, Sacramento: 4:20pm: 17 June

With everything quiet and everyone out of sight, I leaned in to kiss Lizzie again, but I pulled back, and saw her staring at me sadly. I felt a little stupid, but the things rushing around in my head needed to be addressed.

"What if Mr. and Mrs. Stevens come in and see us?" I asked.

"Well…Mr. Stevens would probably be concerned with my stitches and Mrs. Stevens would probably ask you to stay for dinner."

"Oh, really?"

"I promise. They're super liberal. They won't crucify you or anything."

"But the PDA?"

She shrugged, "We'll go upstairs after dinner. It's not like it'll get too bad…I mean, I have stitches and all."

"What about your parents?"

Shrugging again, she said, "That…I'm not sure. Yours?"

"They don't pay enough attention to me to notice." I couldn't believe I actually said that out loud. It was the first time I had really verbally acknowledged this information I had known all my life.

Lizzie looked at me compassionately. She knew. She had always known. She never spent the night at my house when we were little; I always spent the night at hers because I wanted to get away. I wanted so desperately to get out, and be around people that seemed to care. As I sat next to her, still dripping went, and not bothering to do more with the towel than leave it across my shoulders, her hand graced my cheek and tucked my damp hair behind my ear.

She whispered, "Kate, its ok."

"I guess so. You always paid attention to me, Lizzie McGuire." I smiled.

"And you paid more attention to me than you liked to admit." She said, poking my nose.

"Yeah…I did." I pressed my forehead against hers, "I was so stupid."

"It's ok now though."

"I'm scared completely shitless, and you're the only person I would ever tell that to."

"Me too…"

"Really?"

She nodded, and kissed me briefly, "My stupid pain medicine makes me really tired. I'm sorry."

"It's completely ok."

She rested her head on my lap, and I toyed casually with her hair. This felt like home more than my actual home did.

"Do you suppose Ren would take me to the hotel so I can get all of my things?"

"I'm sure she would."

Mrs. Stevens popped in from the kitchen, "Oh…hello. Friend of Ren's?"

I extended my hand, from my position on the couch, not wanting to disturb Lizzie, who seemed comfortable, "Yes, and Lizzie's. I'm Kate."

"Did you get stuck out in the rain, honey?"

I nodded innocently.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?"

I looked down at Lizzie, and she smiled widely, saying, "Lizzie: one point, Kate: zero."

Smiling, I accepted the invitation with a shy nod.

"That's wonderful. The more the merrier. Where is Ren? No one in the kitchen seemed to know."

"She went to Tawny's." I said.

"Alright. Well, Steve should be home soon, and then I'll start cooking." And she exited again.

Ren stumbled back in, looked at us completely defeated, and went upstairs. She looked a little worse off than I did, or so I thought. I hadn't actually seen myself. Her pants were covering in mud.

"Ren, honey? Is that you?" Her mom yelled from the kitchen, having heard her come in.

"She went upstairs!" Lizzie shouted back, and then winced.

"Hold still, McGuire." I told her firmly.

"I don't suppose things with Tawny went well…" She said sadly.

"Don't suppose so. Does anyone know if Ren likes Tawny, or is it just Tawny?" I asked.

Ruby came back into the living room just in time to hear my question, "Had I known Tawny liked her, I never ever would have sent her off with Ethan. Tawny never said a word about it, and kept it completely to herself. Ren, though…Ren, I really don't know. Her being a lesbian would make her far more interesting."

"Ethan's really good in bed." I inserted, and Lizzie shifted around uncomfortably, "Well…he was…before…"

"Ah, Ren, the poor dear, she's definitely a virgin. She wouldn't have had sex with him, I don't think." said Ruby.

"She is?" I was a little shocked, I didn't see how she could have problems getting boys. She seemed nice and pretty enough.

"Indeed. Hot girl, but her personality…" She rolled her eyes.

"Aww…Ren's nice." Lizzie inserted.

Ruby sat down, "How about you, Miss McGuire? You have your fair share of experience with boys before changing teams?"

To my surprise, she nodded.

"Oh my God, who!" I asked, sounding far more angry than I really was. It was purely shock. It seemed to catch her off guard, and then said, "It better have been Gordo cus he's a good kid."

"No…it was…um…Eric."

"Eric Hammond? My ex?"

"It was no good, really. It was all he cared about."

"I know. He's such an asshole. I wanted to tell you…"

"Why didn't you?" She seemed sad.

I caressed her forehead gently, "You know…"

"Interesting," Ruby sighed, "I want to have sex with a girl at some point…just to, you know…see what it's like. I'm not gay or anything, but you gotta try everything once."

"Do you suppose we'll be any good at the lesbian sex?" Lizzie looked at me curiously.

I was a total lesbian. It was settling in, and was some pretty heavy shit, "You're moving too fast for me, babe."

She laughed, and said to Ruby, "You should ask Tawny about some of her lesbian friends."

"I've thought about it…I mean…not a lot, but I didn't want her to think I was batting for her team or anything. Didn't want her to fall in love with me, ya know? Now I'm well aware that wouldn't have happened…but I didn't know that until recently and all…"

"Just out of curiosity…what kind of girl would you do?" I asked, giggling a little.

"Oh…I don't know. Someone super hot. I don't really look at girls like that. I'm so totally straight."

"Lizzie's the only girl I've ever really…I dunno…felt like that with…and it was something more than all that. Know what I mean?" I noticed Lizzie had fallen asleep.

Ruby shrugged, "Oh my God…don't tell anyone about this."

"I won't. I am an excellent secret keeper…I did it for a long time."

"So how does it feel to be a lesbian?"

What kind of question was that, "I don't know…feels like liking anyone else…only it's a girl, which makes it a little hard to swallow…just cus of what other people'll think, I guess."

"You think you'll miss the sex?"

Shrugging my shoulders. There were ways of getting around that, "Why so many questions?"

"Just wondering. I ask questions. I'm a gossip-monger. I like to know everything."

I nodded, "I think I'm a bad lesbian."

"What?" She laughed, but kept it quiet so not to wake Lizzie.

"I don't know anything about lesbian…stuff?"

"Vaginas?" That was true too, but it wasn't what I was talking about.

"No, I mean like…I don't know what lesbians do…"

"In bed?"

"No, Ruby." I laughed, "Like…I don't seem very gay."

"So?"

I shrugged. I really didn't. I was the popular girl. The pretty popular girl. The cheerleader. Not the lesbian.

"You're being silly."

Mr. Stevens walked in the front door and sat his umbrella down, "Hello, Ruby…and Lizzie's asleep…and who are you?" He asked me, "You seem to be a friend of Ruby's…and I assume Ren's too, in that case."

"I'm Kate…um…Mrs. Stevens…err…your wife…invited me to stay for dinner."

"Alright. Sounds good. Mind Lizzie's stitches." He said and then went into the kitchen to greet his wife.

"Lizzie: two points. Kate: zero." I muttered.

"Huh?" Ruby was confused.

"Oh. Nothing."


	8. No Hot Lesbian Sex Here!

Chapter 8: No Hot Lesbian Sex Here!  
Tawny: Deans' house, Tawny's room, Sacramento: 5:03pm: 17 June

I hadn't meant to end up perched on top of a near perfect stranger. Once I stopped screaming and shaking her, she just lay there limply and completely stunned by the entire fiasco.

"We don't have lesbians in Pickford…" She said in a most naïve way, "You're the first lesbian I've ever met, and you're on top of me. It's a little awkward…if you don't mind me saying..."

I cleared my throat, "Um…yeah…" I got off of her so she could sit up, "Sorry about that."

"No…it's ok."

"I'm sure there are some lesbians in Pickford."

"No. Seriously. At least I never met one…"

"That doesn't mean that don't exist, sweetheart."

"I know that!" She said defensively, "Broadcast-"

"Journalism, I know. I'm sure you keep up with the goings on in the world and you watch news channels for fun."

"I'm going to be a hard-hitting reporter."

"Right." I nodded, and moved to the edge of my bed where I sat with my hands in my lap.

"So give me the scoop. What's it like to be a lesbian?" She moved and sat next to me.

"Must you label?" I glared at her, but she didn't back down, "I'm just a person that happens to like girls on occasion…one girl, at the moment."

"Does your dad know?"

"Of course."

"And he's like…ok with it?"

"Yep."

"Mine would freak."

"Pickford…yeah…no lesbians there."

"Exactly." She elbowed me, thinking I had caught on to something that there was nothing to catch on to, "What about your mom?"

"She's never here. I never talk to her. She's always away on business."

"There seems to be a reoccurring pattern of lesbians in dysfunctional households."

I looked at her and simply said, "Fuck you."

"Oh…no…I was just saying. I didn't say I believed it or anything." She didn't take offense at my brutal language. For a pretty girl she was very resilient.

Maybe it was true. Ren was straight because her parents were both completely awesome, while poor sad me was stuck in a single-parent household where her parents weren't even divorced, and my father treated me more like a client than a daughter. His work was his life, and I think that's why my mother was never here. She made her work her life too because it was easier that way. Easier? Fuck easier. What was easier for me?

Keely interrupted my thoughts, "When did you first realize…you…you know?"

"Ask my dad. He's got it all on file."

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

"That's intense."

"If you say so." I looked at her doubtfully, "Have you seriously never encountered a gay person before?"

"Nope. Never."

She was telling the truth, "What about Phil, has he?"

"I don't know."

"Well…we'll just have to ask him, yeah?"

"How do you feel about the current status of the gay marriage laws?"

The questions just kept coming, "I really don't want to talk to you about this. No offense or anything."

"None taken. I'll just ask your dad."

"You do that, champ." I had some things I wanted to ask my dad too, "I'm going to go talk to him about something first though."

"Oh ok. If you change your mind and you'd like me to interview you then let me know!" She said with blinding enthusiasm.

I headed back downstairs, "Dad, can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure, dear." He said not looking at me, but examining Phil instead, "I think this boy is telling the truth."

"Yeah, so what?"

"It's intriguing."

"So can I talk to you about something?"

"Yes."

"Keely needs to ask Phil something anyway."

"About what?" He asked curiously.

"Gay people in the future." She answered coming downstairs as well.

His eyes lit up, "Oh yes, do tell me about gay people in the future."

Phil made a face, "Hmm…well…basically…the population got completely out of control around the year 2090, and diseases were running rampant…so…as a method of population control…homosexual pairings were encouraged more than…well…heterosexual ones. By my time…it was as common place as crispy puffy flakes."

Keely blinked and froze in place.

"I engaged in anal sex occasionally before we came here where it's rather taboo," Phil continued, "I don't see why people make such a big deal about it. In Pickford it's so taboo that it never seems to occur. Quite interesting, really."

A heavy thump followed, and we all looked to see that Keely had fainted. I suppose the thought of her best friend having butt-sex was a bit of a surprise. Poor girl. Didn't surprise me much, Phil was a pretty boy, and they're always at least a little gay.

My dad seemed to forget about her and refocused on Phil, "That is so interesting."

I went over to examine the blond. She seemed ok, and didn't bang her head on anything after she fell. She looked so peaceful, and taking advantage of her flashed through my mind for a second. Then I contemplated leaving her there, but that wouldn't be very nice; she was in the way.

"Someone help me move her to a couch," I said.

Phil came to my aid, and my father followed. We lifted her carefully and placed her on the sofa. Phil began to tend to her, so I tried to talk to my dad.

"So…dad…what's up with you and mom?"

He rubbed his balding head, "I wondered when you would ask me about that…"

"Why?"

"Because I've been trying to figure out how to explain it to you for years. Basically, we married out of convenience. I never loved her and she never loved me, not in the way we should have."

I tried to maintain my calm appearance.

He continued, "I love my job. My job is who I am, and she just wanted security. We're perfectly compatible in that I don't care that she's never here, and she doesn't care if I bring my job home everyday."

"But what about me?"

"What about you, dear?"

"Doesn't she care about me?"

"Of course she does."

"Are you just saying that because I want you to."

He sighed, "No. We both love you very much, Tawny."

"Why would you marry someone you didn't love?"

He shrugged, "I can't answer that because I don't know. It seemed like the best thing to do at the time."

"Did mom love someone else?"

"I suppose she did, but he loved someone else more, so she settled for second best." He smiled, "And I was ok with that because I would rather marry someone that understood me than someone that didn't when I didn't love either."

I didn't know what to say, and I was thrilled that Keely regained consciousness and began ranting semi-coherently, "Phil's gay. Phil can't be gay, we dated. My ex-boyfriend is gay, and I didn't know."

"Keely, I'm not gay. I liked you. I adored you, but...it just-"

"I didn't have a penis. Oh dear Lord…" She looked like she would cry at any second, and we all watched the events unfold, caught in place like deer in headlights.

"No…Keels, sometimes feelings change, and-"

"You realize you like men."

"No!" He yelled at her, "I've only ever liked one other guy, ok? He was back in the future and he doesn't matter anymore! Right now I don't like anyone at all."

"Did you have sex with him?"

"A few times…yes."

She groaned, "I am so glad I didn't sleep with you, Phil Diffy!"

I snickered, and it was probably quite inappropriate, but it was far better than thinking about Ren, or about my parents' weird fucking marriage, that was weirder than I ever imagined.

"Why does it matter?" He asked her, seeming rather sad himself now.

She crossed her arms, and continued to lay there and be bitter, "It just does."

What a silly girl. I was becoming increasingly attracted to her, but I'm fairly certain it was just because she wasn't Ren, and anything reminding me of Ren made me feel like shit, so she was safe. She was so unstable and conservative, and she didn't seem to have very much going on upstairs; adorable though, and her heart was in the right place, sort of.


	9. Ruby's Intervention

Chapter 9: Ruby's Intervention!  
Ruby: Mendels' House, kitchen, Sacramento: 1:18pm: 18 June

As I sat at the kitchen table fiddling with some burnt toast that I had made myself for a late breakfast because there was no other food in my house, I thought about the Ren and Tawny situation. It was, in fact, somewhat my fault, and I felt terrible. I certainly couldn't go back in time and change it, so I had to fix it somehow now. First though, I needed more information. I couldn't get anything out of Ren, so Tawny was my current target.

I tossed my toast into the trash and grabbed my keys then I was on my way. I doubted my ability to get Tawny to talk to me, and it would definitely be hard to get her to concede to the fact that any idea in her head was wrong. The latter would be next to impossible, but I had to try! I couldn't handle this rift between the two of them. It was spoiling my fun as well.

Tawny's car was parked beside her house, as always. She walked everywhere. She only drove when absolutely necessary so to protect the ozone layer or whatever…environmental mumbo-jumbo. It made it difficult to tell if she were home. I assumed she was though because she hadn't left her house in days, due to her sulking.

I made my way carefully to the door, trying not to slip on the damp stepping stones. At least it wasn't raining anymore, and that was a plus. I rang the doorbell and waited. While I waited, I tried to look through the frosted glass on the door, but to no avail. I rang the bell again then tried to see into the windows, but the curtains were pulled shut, so I couldn't see anything.

"Tawny!" I yelled. I listened carefully and heard some movement from inside.

The door opened a few inches and I saw one of Tawny's blue eyes in the shadow, "What?"

"I want to talk to you."

"Is Ren with you?"

"Nope. Just me."

"You can't come in." She snapped, "I'll come outside."

That was weird, but I said, "Ok."

She squeezed out of the door, and shut it quickly then crossed her arms and waited for me to say something.

"What happened?" I asked.

"When?" She asked, the tone of her voice more angry than usual.

"With you and Ren…you know what I mean."

"Why?"

I glared at her, "I'm the one that came here to ask you questions. You can't be mad at me."

"Maybe I am."

"Oh my God, you're being so childish!" She said nothing to defend herself to my surprise, "You're usually the sane one out of the bunch of us. I'm sorry. I know this was my fault, but-"

"No. You helped me to realize something that I was better off realizing sooner than later."

"What? You're in love with Ren? So what?"

"So what?" She thought I failed to grasp the implications of her feelings.

"And that means you can't be friends? She should be the one that doesn't want to be friends with you because of your girl-crush."

She rolled her eyes, "You don't get it."

"You're being dumb."

"I'm not."

This wasn't working at all, "Alright. Fine. Don't talk to me. I wanted to try and fix whatever happened, but you're being a pain in the ass."

"You can't fix it."

"You won't let me try."

"Because it's pointless, and you shouldn't waste your time."

"Why?" I asked. I knew she had to break down sooner or later, or just go back in the house and lock the door.

"Because you can't fix it." She said between her teeth, "Unless…unless you fucking make her love me back or…"

"I can't do that."

"I know and that's why it's pointless, you stupid ass!"

Ouch. "Ok…now there's no reason for name calling."

"Can you make me stop being in love with her then!"

"No. I don't see why you're in love with her anyway, she's boring and plain." Before she could say anything else I continued, "Why can't you just be friends, Tawny! Is that not enough for you!"

She shook her head, and looked down, "I can't be just friends with her…"

"You did it for years."

"But it was different."

"Why?"

"God, Ruby! Will you just go home and leave me alone, this isn't your problem."

"Yes it is my problem! You're my friends!"

She didn't respond, and just kept looking down. She was being a whiney little bitch and it was way out of character for her. She wasn't taking this well, and it was a decision she had made.

"Look…you're usually the one that solves our problems-"

"I'm trying to solve my own."

"Well, you're doing it really stupidly."

"I can't stop liking her if we're still friends, and I can't be friends with her as long as I still like her because it'll just make me miserable."

"More miserable than you are now? You seem a hell of a lot more unhappy now than you were when you were friends her with pretending you weren't in love with her."

She said nothing.

"C'mon Tawny. Ren doesn't care that you like her."

She still said nothing.

I put my hands on either side of her face and forced her to look at me, which pushing her cheeks together and forcing her to make a fish-face. I shook her head around a little bit, and said, "Tawny Dean, you are being really, really stupid."

"No, I'm not." She mumbled through her puckered lips.

Her eyes narrowed, and I shook her head some more, "Seriously. Stupid. You."

"What's stupid is you having a hold of my face. If you don't let go, I'll rip your arms off."

"Fine." I let her go, "On an unrelated note, I want you to introduce me to some of your lesbian friends?"

She looked at me like I was a moron, "Why?"

"Because I want to have sex with a girl."

"What?" She was taken aback, not that I didn't think she wouldn't be.

"I want to have sex with a girl."

"What the hell for?"

I shrugged, "I figure I might as well try it."

"You're insane."

"What? Why?"

"You don't just have sex with people."

"Why not? I just want someone who'll teach me a few things about the lesbian sex or whatever."

"Read a book, Ruby."

I laughed, "Read? Are you kidding? I don't read."

"Clearly."

"So do you have a really hot ex-girlfriend you're on good terms with that would do you a favor?"

"Having sex with you is not a favor."

I decided to just throw this out there, "What about you?"

She looked at me with completely seriousness, "You flipped shit when I tried to kiss you."

"Yes, but I thought about it, and really…I'm comfortable with my sexuality, I just want to try it."

"You wouldn't want to try it if you were comfortable with your sexuality."

I shrugged my shoulders, "If you don't want to help me I'll find my own lesbian to have sex with."

"Would you like it if a boy had sex with you just to see what it was like to have sex with you?"

"I don't care, as long as the appropriate protection is involved."

"Are you serious?" She seemed completely shocked.

"Sure."

"You really are completely insane." She paused, "Don't you think sex should be about love and-"

I thought for a moment, "Well…not entirely…not these days."

"So you want me to just call up some friends of mine and say something along the lines of: Oh, you know my friend Ruby Mendel, she wants to have a lesbian one-night stand, are you interested?"

"Not just some of your friends. They have to be hot."

"Hot?"

"Yeah…you know…hot."

"Who is a hot girl to you?"

I thought for a bit again, "Not Ren. She's too plain. Not you. I don't know."

She rolled her eyes, "So personality doesn't matter at all to you?"

"Not for this, no. I'm not a lesbian, I don't want any attachments."

"Yeah, so I'm going to go inside now, and I'm going to lock the door, and you need to go get some sleep or something because you're dumber than usual today." She started backing for the door, "If you'd like to come back and talk to my dad about your mental problems, I'm sure he would get a kick out of it."

"You're dumb too…throwing away a friendship like you're doing. What does you dad think about that?"

Tawny gave me the finger rather forcefully before slipping back inside her house and locking the door like she said. I wasn't crazy. She was a silly little idealist, and not as much of a realist as she had us all believing for so long.

I yelled, "If you stay inside all the time you're going to get more pale than you already are!"

I'm not sure what the point of my yelling was. I suppose I was just making sure I got the last word. I had considered her extended middle finger as saying a few things. She was certainly being a little Miss Grumpypants.

Now it was off to try and get something out of Ren again. Eventually I would get my intervention underway appropriately, and I would save the day.

While I was walking to my car, Tawny poked her head out of a window and screamed, "Your accent is annoying, and I'd hate to think what you sound like in bed!"


	10. Ren Also Thinks Ruby Is Insane

Chapter 10: Ren Also Thinks Ruby Is Insane  
Ren: Stevens' house, Ren's room, Sacramento: 2:00pm, 18 June

"Ren, I have to ask you something." Ruby said bursting into my room without a knock or the slightest warning whatsoever. I didn't even know the girl was here.

"Ok. Ask away." I said.

"Do you think I'd be bad to have sex with because of my accent?"

I blinked, and tried to determine if she said what I thought she said. It may have been a joke. But it had been pretty clear, and completely serious on top of that, "Ruby…I wouldn't have sex with you, and I don't really want to think about having sex with you. I love you to death…but no."

"I'm just saying in general!" She seemed very flustered, "Do you think it bothers other people?"

"Is that all you came to ask me."

"Oh…no, oh my God, no."

"How about we get to what you really wanted to ask me because that other question is really weird."

"Fine." She whined, and sat down in my computer chair, "You and Tawny-"

"Is there a point to what you're gonna say?" I interrupted her.

"Well, I went to talk to Tawny, and she was in a horrible mood. She was really mean to me."

"She's always really mean to you." I reminded her.

"Meaner than normal! She said mean things about my accent." She pouted.

"You would be in a bad mood too if you were in love with someone that didn't love you back." I defended Tawny, and it became apparent where the first question Ruby asked came from.

"So you don't care that she doesn't want to be friends?"

I had thought a lot about it, "If it'll make her happy then sure. Of course I still want to be friends with her, but if she can't then she can't."

"Oh my God!" She squealed, "Don't tell me you don't think she's being stupid!"

I shrugged. If she didn't want me to tell her, then I wouldn't.

"You're ruining my intervention!"

"You were planning an intervention?" Her heart was in the right place…at least I think it was.

"Of course!" She said it like it was something that should have been obvious to me as well.

"I went and talked to her dad about it yesterday…but then last night when I got back from getting Kate's stuff, I kinda understood."

"You _kinda_ understood, but not _completely _understood."

I forced a bit of laughter, "I mean, it's logical. After she gets over me we can be friends again."

"What if she doesn't?"

"Why wouldn't she?"

"I, personally, don't see what she likes about you in the first place. No offense or anything."

"None taken. I know I'm boring. You tell me often enough."

"But…" She continued, "What if she's like _really _in love with you?"

"Is there some kind of differentiation that I missing here? If she doesn't see me or talk to me then she can't keep being in love with me. It doesn't last. Still being in love with someone after years and years is just something silly from Victorian literature. It doesn't happen in reality." I paused, "Right?"

She shrugged, "I just thought I'd throw that out there."

"What's it like to be in love with someone…like…_really_ in love?"

"How should I know?" She said sharply, looking rather confused that I'd even ask her.

"But like…doesn't it feel different…or something?"

"Do you think I've been in love?"

"Well…" Yes, I did, "You have sex-"

"Don't tell me you're a crazy idealist that thinks you can't have sex without love too!"

"Huh?"

"Sex is sex. You don't have to have it with someone you love. I mean, sure you can have sex with someone you love, but you can have sex with anyone."

"I…I wouldn't. It's supposed to be special."

"If you wait for someone special you may die a virgin."

"Laying on the peer pressure mighty thick today, aren't you, Ruby?"

"Whatever floats your boat."

Yeah, my boat. That damned little thing I was sitting in alone. I shrugged, and thought that maybe I had read a bit too much Victorian literature for my own good.

"Do you think you might like Tawny?" She asked after a few moments of silence.

"Sure, I like her."

"No! In a lesbian way!" She corrected.

"Oh…I don't know."

"You don't know?" She seemed to be getting a little angry, and I didn't know why.

I sat and just looked at her, waiting for her to say something else.

"How can you not know?"

"Err…I don't know."

"Do you want to see her boobs!"

I was taken aback, "That just seems sorta rude…and I…I…"

"I give up!" She threw her hands in the air, got up and walked to the door. She turned, "I'm the only person that cares about you and Tawny's friendship. What the fuck?"

"Ruby, I care."

"Bullshit. You two are miserable."

"I'm fine." I lied. I wasn't fine, but I wasn't miserable. Miserable was a mighty strong word.

"Whatever." And with that she walked out of my room, shutting the door behind her.

I lay down and snuggled with my ancient stuffed monkey, Mr. Pookie. I was close to being fine, right? I had accepted what happened and that was the end of it. I was ok, I think. But everyone else had gone off to do fun things, and I was sitting alone in my room with the door shut doing nothing. That should have been some sort of sign to me, but it didn't register at the time. Ruby was out of her mind, and that did register. She meant well, but she needed to just stay out of it. She was going to make it all worse, I was afraid. Maybe she was trying to make up for her screw up that lead up to the fiasco. I dunno.

"Could I be in love with Tawny?" I asked Mr. Pookie.

He didn't answer, and I was glad.


	11. The Corruption of a Pickford Girl Part 1

Chapter 11: The Corruption of a Pickford Girl Part 1  
Keely: Dean house, living room, Sacramento: 1:42pm: 18 June

As Phil and I bickered, Tawny went outside to talk to someone, came back in, went upstairs and proceeded to yell something out the window. We actually paused in our argument for a few seconds after that. I heard her bedroom door slam, and then we started up again.

"Let it go, Keely!" Phil yelled, and stomped around.

"No!"

"Why not!"

"Because! Just because!"

He groaned, "Can't you just get over it? I don't see why it matters!"

I pointed at him angrily, "Because I dated you!"

"But we're not dating now and you don't even like me anymore!"

"Not the point!"

"Then what is the point!"

"You're immoral!"

He raised an eyebrow, "You're closed-minded."

"I am not!" I said with surprise.

"Then what do you call this? You're sure as hell not being open-minded!"

I snatched up the nearest pillow from the couch and threw it at his head then stormed upstairs.

"Tawny!" I barged into her room, "Do you think I'm closed-minded?"

She was lying on her bed, and she rolled over, "Yeah. A little bit."

I crossed my arms, "Why?"

"I just heard you scream that Phil was immoral. Throwing morality around like that is a tad closed-minded."

"I'm concerned for his soul."

She blinked, and seemed at a loss for words.

"Wha…I…" It bothered me that she didn't say anything back. It didn't give me anything more to go on.

"It's a pity you were bred in a horrible, homophobic little town because you're very pretty."

"Don't hit on me."

"I wasn't. I was just saying…"

"And don't insult Pickford!"

"I wasn't."

"Horrible homophobic little town isn't an insult?"

She shrugged, and rolled back into her stomach, "Did you come up here to try and start an argument with me too because I'm not in the mood?"

"No…"

"Had Phil told you about his little gay affair while you were together, what would you have done?"

"I…I don't know."

"Why does it matter now?"

"Because it does."

"That's a terrible argument, Miss Journalist."

"I know…"

"So why do you keep using it?" She turned her head and smirked.

I shrugged. She made me feel stupid. Maybe I deserved it. Time for a subject-change, "Who was outside?"

"Just a friend."

"Didn't sound very friendly."

"Neither did you and Phil, but you're still friends with him, right?"

Of course I was. I just didn't want him to be gay. I shrugged.

"Are you going to stop being friends with him because of gay encounter he had before he knew you in the future?" She said looking at me sternly, "Wow…that was a weird phrase to say."

"I…I don't know."

"You can't be _that _homophobic to just…" She paused, and seemed to think of something else for a moment, "Throw away…a friendship over it."

"I'm not homophobic."

"Or closed-minded. Right." She got up and moved to the end of her bed where she sat and looked at me, accusingly.

"I still want to be friends with Phil…"

"But it's conditional. I'd hate to know how you really feel about me."

"I like you fine." I said, a little hurt.

With a mock southern accent, she said, "But I'm one of them homosexuals."

I didn't even have a southern accent, "It's different…"

"How?"

I wanted to cry. I felt like such an asshole. This was all so confusing! I was out of my comfort zone, and nothing in my head was making sense.

"How?" She asked again, "Because you never dated me?"

"Well…no."

"Then what?"

"Well…"

"Yes. Ok. It doesn't make sense that you're ok with me being gay, but not Phil. Aren't I immoral too?"

"Yes."

"Ok. At least we're getting some consistency as you toss your morality around."

I sighed. This was all so confusing. I knew coming to Sacramento was a bad idea, and I knew staying here was a bad idea, and everything was all fucked up now. Maybe I could have Phil erase my memory of this whole fiasco. He probably wouldn't though. He wants me to remember that he had sex with some guy. Maybe he wanted to make me jealous because he secretly still wanted me! Yes, that was it! I sat down next to Tawny and started to tell her this revelation of mine, but she cut me off.

"So…it's immoral to love someone, eh?"

I wondered if Phil really loved this other guy. He never wanted to have sex with me, but he had sex with some guy. What was that about? I wasn't jealous or anything, it just didn't seem fair, or right, or something. It was quite mean really. I had to get him back.

"Is it?"

"It's just…it's how I was brought up, I guess. It's all just weird and confusing."

"No pressure…I was just saying…"

"You _just say_ a lot."

"Yeah, I know." She smiled a little, and seemed very sad. I had failed to notice how sad she was the entire time she was talking to me because I'm such a selfish brat. I felt bad for her. I really did. She seemed so sincerely in love with this Ren girl, and maybe Phil really was sincerely in love with the guy in the future. But then…

I dunno if I did it to somehow get back at Phil, or because I felt so bad for Tawny, or just because I wanted to, but I kissed her. Right then and there.

She flailed frantically, and then fell off the bed, trying to get away from me, "What are you doing!"

"Curing my homophobia?" I said, not sure what the right answer to her question was. Her reaction certainly crushed my ego.

"You can't just do that!"

"I thought you liked girls…"

Her eyes grew wide, and she stared at me from the base of her bed, "I like…a girl…one girl…Ren Stevens. Do you like every boy you meet just cus you're straight. No. Ok."

She didn't give me time to respond at all, but she was right. She was always right. "I'm sorry…are you ok? That was totally stupid."

"Yeah…deja vu. Whatever." And she pulled herself back up onto the bed, "You need a crash course in gay people."

"Pickford doesn't have any."

"Yeah I know."

"You said I was hot…"

"You are, and you're very sweet, but you're…don't take this the wrong way…dumb as a fucking rock." She flicked me in the forehead, trying to determine if my skull was hollow, I think.

"I'm not dumb." I protested.

"Nor are you homophobic and closed-minded." She laughed, and then stopped abruptly, "If you wanna kiss me do it now. I'm ready. You should have given me a little heads up before."

I thought about it. What could it hurt, really? Aside from the eternal damnation of my soul and whatnot. It was for research. It's not like I was really actually a lesbian or anything, nor did I think the lifestyle was condonable, but I kissed her.

**_Michelle-Note: _**_It's about time I got something going that actually involves people from different shows...since this is a crossover afterall, and that would be the point, yeah? haha_


	12. The Corruption of a Pickford Girl Part 2

_**Michelle-Note: **Yeah...so...some girl lovin' ahead...maybe...or maybe not. Read and find out...Jareth, seeing as you are the only person reading._

Chapter 12: The Corruption of a Pickford Girl Part 2  
Tawny: Dean house, Tawny's room, Sacramento: 2:39pm: 18 June

How could one person be so intensely dumb, but so adorable at the same time? Senseless completely shallow physical attractions to people were my weakness. I kept telling myself it was the girl's family, and that she wasn't really an idiot, which meant she could be fixed. It would be a slow, painful process, but I could reeducate her.

She had been quiet for a bit, so I tried to spark up the conversation again with another tough question for her little closed-mind, "So…it's immoral to love someone, eh?"

Keely didn't respond, and she seemed off in her own little dream world. I hoped she was processing the things I said, and hadn't just slipped into a fit of catatonia.

"Is it?" I asked again.

"It's just…it's how I was brought up, I guess. It's all just weird and confusing."

"No pressure…I was just saying…"

"You _just say_ a lot."

"Yeah, I know." I smiled a little. I used to run mad game on Ren, but not really cus she thought it was all a huge joke. I talked so much shit, and I pretended to be all badass, and emotionless and whatever else. I was all talk though, no action really…not when it actually mattered.

Out of the blue the silly blonde girl kissed me, completely destroying my thought process. I went into Tawny-panic-mode, freaked out, and tried to get away from her the best I could, which got me onto the floor on my ass, "What are you doing!"

"Curing my homophobia?" She said, but it was far more a question than an actual answer. She was trying, she really was.

"You can't just do that!"

"I thought you liked girls…"

Idiot. Why do people assume stupid nonsense like that? "I like…a girl…one girl…Ren Stevens. Do you like every boy you meet just cus you're straight. No. Ok."

"I'm sorry…are you ok? That was totally stupid."

"Yeah…deja vu. Whatever." I had a strange feeling like I had fallen on my ass like that at some point before. I climbed back into my bed, and said, "You need a crash course in gay people."

"Pickford doesn't have any."

"Yeah I know."

"You said I was hot…" She was confused that I could think she was hot, and then flip out when she kissed me.

"You are, and you're very sweet, but you're…don't take this the wrong way…dumb as a fucking rock." I flicked her in the forehead, fairly certain I would hear a resonating hollow sound.

"I'm not dumb." She said in her defense.

"Nor are you homophobic and closed-minded." I laughed, but then I had an idea. I could cure her needless homophobia and try one more time to force myself to get over Ren, or possibly make her jealous because I was becoming quite bitter and vindictive, "If you wanna kiss me do it now. I'm ready. You should have given me a little heads up before."

She looked at me like a deer caught in headlights, and just as I started to think that my idea might be a bad one, she closed the gap between us. At first her lips just lightly graced mine, but in what felt like no time, the girl was on my lap. Her hands were in my hair, and her tongue wrestled with mine, while my hands edged carelessly up the back of her shirt. It was some kind of automatic response: I wanted her bra off immediately.

I would have tried to pretend she was Ren, but she was far too rough, too sure of herself. It's always the damn conservative girls that are really kinky. She leaned into me and forced me onto my back. She pinned down my hips, and showed no sign of letting me up soon. I laughed to myself, and fiddled nonchalantly with her bra's clasp. I figured I'd make an attempt to enjoy this. Maybe I could settle for second best. Second best was apparently good enough for my parents.

Why the hell was I thinking about these things! There was a gorgeous, albeit rather homophobic girl on top of me. The bra was unclasped, and I started to tug at the hem of her shirt, to try and get it off without breaking what seemed to be an endless kiss. Her tongue was out of control, and I wondered what fabulous things she could do with it elsewhere. She pulled away for air, I think, and I yanked her shirt over her head, and she let her bra slip down her arms then threw it aside. She hovered over me, breathing heavily for a moment, before beginning at the top button of my shirt, and making her way down.

An evil smile crossed her face, and I pulled her mouth back down to mine. What the fuck was this girl trying to prove? My God, she was gorgeous. I think I may have been getting a little too greedy, but I let my hands wander down to the button of her shorts.

She pulled away, and I let go. Her blond curls fell down around her face, "I've never had sex with a girl…"

"Of course not. There are no lesbians in Pickford."

"I don't know if I'd be any good." She whispered, as if it was an important secret.

I laughed, "No need to worry about that."

She smiled, seeming comforted by the thought.

Gently, I rolled her over, and she slid my shirt from my shoulders. I still wished she were Ren. With the utmost care I dipped down and began to kiss around her right nipple, and I felt her fiddling with my bra. This girl was not straight. There was no way. She was a disillusioned little lesbian trapped in a town in the Bible Belt. That was all. Her back arched as I reached down to the button of her shorts again.

"Tawny!" My dad burst into my room, "What do you want for din-" He exited and slammed the door, "I'm sorry, honey! I'll surprise you with dinner!"

Rather hysterically, I started to laugh, and Keely caught on. I got off of her, and started to put my shirt back on, "I'm sorry about that."

"No…I…" She looked around, "Where the hell did my bra go?"

"I think you threw it off of the bed." I said laying down and looking at her from a different angle just to amuse myself.

"Your dad walking in rather ruined the mood, yeah?"

"Just a little…not the first time it's happened though."

She chuckled slightly and began to put her clothes back on, "That was intense."

"Yeah. It's a pity I won't get to have a little snack before dinner." I winked.

She seemed disgusted and shocked, "You're a pervert. A lesbian pervert."

I shrugged, "And you are freakishly aggressive in bed. I don't see why Phil isn't interested."

"Because he's gay."

"Oh, let that go."

She crossed her arms in the cute pout-y manner that she always did, and started to walk out.

"I bet you gave at least one boy a rather good time, yeah?"

"Maybe…"

I propped myself up on my elbows, "Premarital sex is a sin too, sweetheart."

She stopped, and didn't turn, "Maybe we can do this again sometime."

I decided it best to turn into cocky Tawny to mask any qualms I had on the matter, "You know where I live."

"This doesn't mean I'm a lesbian."

"Not at all."


	13. Lizzie of the Future!

_**Michelle-Note: **This chapter's kinda long. Lots of babbling, I think. If you're lurking around and reading this quietly...stop being quiet! Please. I like reviews. Your not reviewing is not going to stop me from writing/posting because I'm on a roll, but still. Holler at me. I like to hear from people who read this nonsense._

Chapter 13: Lizzie of the Future!  
Lizzie: Someplace near the beach, Sacramento: 2:40pm: 18 June

"We should have made Ren come." I said to everyone as we sat down.

We'd stumbled into a little coffee shop at about the time I was feeling completely exhausted and needed a rest. Kate insisted upon helping me sit, as she had become extremely protective of me. I kept insisting I wouldn't break, but she didn't listen.

"Nah. We should just leave her alone." Gordo said.

"But she's being so…blah."

"Nice adjective choice."

"Oh hush…Gor-dork."

Kate stifled a giggle at my attempted name-calling. It was weird for her to be hanging out with me, Miranda, and Gordo. This had never happened before. It felt a bit like something had gone awry in the universe.

Miranda sighed and slouched in the booth, "Anyway…do you think Louis would go out on a date with me before we leave?"

"Don't date him. He's younger than you." Kate advised.

Miranda seemed to consider it, but Gordo piped up, "Kate, you're a year older than Lizzie, remember?"

"Oh shit. I forgot."

"Didn't you have to repeat Kindergarten?" I asked her, laughing a little.

"Don't say that out loud." She glared.

"So why did you have to repeat Kindergarten of all grades? I mean…did you not know how to color or what?" Asked Miranda.

"Well…I…um…my teacher didn't think I interacted well with the other kids."

"Ironic." Gordo chuckled.

"Shut up. I have great people skills now! I'm popular!"

"Not once everyone finds out you're a lesbian." Miranda pointed out.

She crossed her arms and made a pouty-face, "We're going to college, and besides…boys think lesbians are hot."

"Speaking of college," Miranda inserted, "I don't want you coming over and having tons of lesbian sex in my room."

"Shhh! We're in public."

Gordo laughed, "Anybody want anything to eat or whatever? I'll go order."

"Banana split!" I said.

"A sundae." Miranda told him.

Then we all looked at Kate, who was in deep thought over the matter, "Umm…"

"Don't say you don't want anything cus you're in a diet." I elbowed her.

"No…just get me a caramel iced coffee."

"Alright."

As Gordo walked toward the counter, Kate said, "I was just trying to decide. You guys were so fast."

"Remember Lizzie…she's a little slow…she had to repeat Kindergarten."

"Stop picking on me about that! I'm sensitive!"

I reached under the table and held her hand. I didn't care if she had to repeat Kindergarten. It was sort of endearing. Sort of. She seemed to have grown to accept it though.

Miranda laughed, and after a few moments, she said, "It's so weird hanging out with you. It's almost like you're a normal person."

"I am a normal person…" She whined.

"I'm just glad you're not being a heinous bitch anymore, Miranda." I said.

"I second that."

"I third." Gordo said bringing back a tray with all of our goodies on it, and sliding back into the booth next to Miranda.

"Yeah…sorry about that everybody…" She seemed a bit ashamed.

"How much do I owe you?" Kate asked him.

"Nothing. It was on me."

"You're so nice. Not like a real boy." She stated.

Then Miranda asked, "Why don't you ever wanna hang out with Louis and Twitty?"

He shrugged, and passed the food items to their respective owners, keeping a basket of fries to himself.

"You could totally hang out with Louis and get an inside perspective for me."

"I dunno what you see in my cousin. The kid is crazy."

"No…" She protested, "He's exciting and spontaneous. I just need a change."

"From having an imaginary boyfriend to have a spastic one?" Kate said with biting sarcasm. Miranda glared at her hatefully, and I feared that she would go back to hating her, but it would be more terrible now on account of she was my girlfriend. I started to panic, but Kate recovered, "If you're going to make fun of me for being held back in Kindergarten then I'm going to have to make fun of you and your lack of boys."

"Fine." She was a bit bitter, but she accepted it in order to maintain the privilege to make fun of Kate.

"I think you should have dated Tudgeman." Gordo said out of nowhere.

"Oh my God! I agree!" Kate exclaimed.

I just laughed, finding myself rather amused by the situation, and enjoying my banana split too much to actually be bothered with joining in.

My poor Latino friend looked disgusted, "Why would you say that? I understand why Kate would say it because she's evil, but Gordo…how could you?"

"I always thought he had a thing for that fat chick…" I mumbled.

"You're going to have fat children for saying horrible things like that." Kate said to me very seriously.

My immediate thought was about having children with Kate, obviously, which would require her growing a penis. Children were too far in my future to be concerned with so I just shook the weird thoughts from my mind that kept tumbling in.

"What was her name?" Gordo asked.

"I don't remember." Answer Miranda.

"I don't either." I said.

"I think it was Veronica?" Kate tossed into the mix, "I think I'm making that up. Lizzie, she came to your party in eighth grade…the one with the murder mystery thingy."

"Yeah…but I really don't remember. I never really talked to her in high school." That brought back some memories. Memories of when Gordo was madly in love with me, and I was too dumb to notice, and Kate was who pointed it out.

"What's that kid doing?" Miranda's attention had wandered, and she pointed to a boy outside the window.

"Looks like he's kicking rocks." I said, plainly because that was what he appeared to be doing, and that was the extent of his activity. He had messy dark hair, and his hands in his pockets, and he was simply, kicking rocks along the sidewalk.

"He's kinda hot," Kate mumbled, "I mean in an objective way of course." And she kissed me on the cheek…in public. This girl had some balls…metaphorical balls because if she had real balls, we would have fat kids. I looked around the place to see if anyone noticed. No one seemed to care about the incident, except me.

"Let's go make friends." Said Miranda.

"Huh?" Gordo had a bunch of fries in his mouth, "Make…friends?" He swallowed, "With that random kid?"

"Sure. He's cute."

"Fine." He said, and ate his last fry.

"Yeah…I'll just sit here so not to aggravate my stitches." I told her. I was surprised that Gordo was so easy coerced.

"And I'll sit here to make sure she doesn't aggravate her stitches."

Gordo and Miranda went outside and we watched through the window as they approached the mystery boy. Kate pressed her face against the glass, mashing her cheeks and nose, making herself look rather disfigured from the other side probably. I was slightly embarrassed to be sitting with her. We couldn't hear them, and this was a shame. They talked, and talked some more, then laughed, talked, laughed, and finally they started to come back inside with their new friend.

"Kate and Lizzie, this is Phil." Miranda said, pushing him toward us as he stood back apprehensively.

"Kate. You were the one squishing your face against the window." He said pointing. She grinned in response.

Just to get it out of the way I asked, "So what was up with you kicking the rocks around outside?"

"Oh…that…" He seemed a little embarrassed and scratched his head, "I didn't realize I was attracting attention to myself."

"I can't believe these two losers went outside and talked to you," Kate began, "How awkward was that, huh?"

"Shut up." Miranda snapped.

"It was fine really. I'm new here…just visiting, staying with a friend, but my travel-buddy is mad at me."

"Aww…why?" I asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Kate Fucking Sanders!" Screamed a shrill voice, cutting our little introductory conversation short.

We turned and lo and behold, it was Claire standing in the entrance to the coffee shop; everyone else inside turned a looked at her as well. We thought we were rid of her, but apparently she hadn't left.

She stomped in, "_What_ are you doing?"

Kate looked around, "Um…nothing."

"I've been looking all over this God forsaken town for you and I missed the flight back and I find you here…with these…these…people." Referring to us as people seemed more than a bit forced.

"I…I'm sorry…" Kate responded timidly, and the rest of us just watched on dumbfounded.

"You should be! I don't know what's wrong with you!"

"Err…" Gordo interjected, "Maybe you should take this outside…you're creating a bit of a scene."

Indeed she was. People were awkwardly leaving, and the cashier was looking rather pissed at losing customers. I was between Claire and Kate and it made me more than a little uncomfortable. Miranda seemed baffled at seeing Kate completely defenseless for the first time, and poor Phil was just clueless.

"Why would you ditch me for these people, Kate?" Claire asked as I was starting to get up, "Wait until everyone hears about this."

"Maybe I don't care!" Kate snapped back at her.

"Outside! Now!" A middle-aged man shouted, coming from the back, and wiping his hands vigorously on a towel.

In a huff, Claire turned and stomped out the same way she came in. We all exchanged concerned glances, and followed her reluctantly.

"Let's just leave." Gordo persuaded.

"This has been an interesting first encounter…" Phil said, sounding disappointed.

"Yeah…let's just go." I agreed with Gordo, taking Kate's hand, "She won't follow us."

Bad move.

Claire wailed, "Don't tell me you're a lesbian with Lizzie McGuire!"

Kate seemed incapable of forming words again, and tried to nudge me toward the rest of the group, so we could make our escape, but Claire was really starting to get on my last nerve. I took a defiant step toward her, jerking Kate with me, "What if she is!"

"I'm not talking to you." She said with a sneer, "This is going to ruin you Kate. I am going to ruin you."

"What did I ever do to you…really?" She asked sadly.

"You were ruining her before." I added.

She looked at me with contempt, "Shut up."

And then I pulled my hand away from Kate's, made a fist, and hit her in center of her face all in one insanely impulsive moment. A gasp ensued from the group. Miranda covered her mouth with her eyes wide. Gordo froze, his mouth agape. Phil snickered a little, and Kate, she grabbed onto my arm to pull me back. I had never hit anyone before, and I was a little bit in shock myself.

Claire clutched her face with both hands as if that would somehow stop the pain, but said nothing, she only glared menacingly at me. I wondered if I'd broken her nose.

Phil pulled something out of his pocket. He pointed the weird device at our nemesis, and in a strange flash she turned into a jar of peanut butter.


	14. The Further Corruption of a Pickford

Chapter 14: The Further Corruption of a Pickford Girl  
Ruby: The Beach, Sacramento: 12:47pm: 19 June

After some incessant pestering and excessive phone usage, I conned Tawny into going to the beach with me to check out girls. I wanted her to help me find a prospective girl for my endeavor, and sadly, I did not have gaydar, but she did. She wasn't very enthusiastic about the whole thing, but went a long with it anyway. When was she ever very enthusiastic about anything?

We situated ourselves far from the ocean, both of us beneath Tawny's huge umbrella. She was cloaked like a little witch again.

"So…talked to Ren?" She asked. She was attempting to be casual about it like she didn't care if I had or not, but I know she did.

"Yeah."

"What'd she say?"

"Nothing much. She's a stubborn ass like you." I paused, and then attempted to pry, "Why?"

She shrugged, "Just wondering."

"How's everyone else? When I called her house the other day, Kate was there."

"Yep."

She wanted to know more, her curiosity building quickly, "Why?"

"Ask her yourself. You didn't want much of my help before, so why now?"

"I'm helping you, aren't I? With this stupid fucking little conquest of yours." She sneered.

My eyes wandered among the people on the sand and in the surf, they stopped on a thin girl with radiant blond curls that was collecting shells in a childish manner along the shore. Perfect.

"Her," I pointed, "She's a girl I would have sex with."

Tawny followed my finger and my gaze, "Keely? Oh, my..."

"You know her?"

"Well, yes. She's staying at my house actually…" She made some contemplative noise, "What the hell is she doing here?"

I was intrigued. How did Tawny get all of the women in this manner? Tawny was a total pimp, "Where'd she come from?"

"Some little place called Pickford…in Tennessee or one of those states. She's here with some boy."

"Oh..." My hopes were crushed.

"They aren't together." She informed me, quickly.

"She up for a hot lesbian one night stand?"

"No." She answered barely letting me get out the question.

"Why so sure?"

"You don't wanna mess with her…she's crazy."

"Have you?"

"Have I what?"

"Ya know…with her." I wiggled my eye brows up and down and grinned.

"You're weird. What's with this obsession of yours?"

I shrugged, "I just want to get this out of the way before I go to college, so I don't have to bother with it while in college. Getting the experimentation done early, so I can focus on my education."

"Right."

She didn't believe me. I could tell. She rolled her eyes. She thought I was going over to the other side of the street. Had she never heard of experimentation? Gosh.

"Keely, come here." She said as soon as the little blond was in earshot.

She perked up, and walked over to us looking happy to see a familiar face. Before Tawny could introduce her, she did so herself, "Hi, I'm Keely."

"I'm Ruby, hi."

Tawny gave me the most evil look I had ever seen then said to the girl, "Ruby wants to know if you'll engage in some random lesbian sex with her just once, so she can say she's done it with a girl."

Keely looked at me blankly and tilted her head, "Sure."

"Sure!" Tawny was shocked, and turned a bit green in the face.

"I'm irresistible." I laughed.

"Whatever!" She rolled her eyes and departed from our company, muttering something about how straight people are getting more lesbian sex than she is. She walked a few feet then came back and took her umbrella without a word.

"I think it would make a great hard-hitting piece for my journalism portfolio. I could call it _Gay Like_ _Me_, and I'll be a lesbian for a day." She said, seeming highly amused by the entire thought.

"Hard-hitting piece?"

"Yes. I'm going into broadcast journalism and I'm going to be the next Barbara Walters."

How amusing, "Really now? Broadcast journalism is essentially publicized gossip, and gossip is what I do best."

"So when do you want to do this?"

"How about tomorrow? I'm free."

"Sounds good. I'll get my notebooks and tape recorder together and we can meet sometime around lunch?"

"Sounds quite fabulous."

She looked around, noticing the dark-haired girl's absence, "Where'd Tawny go?"

I shrugged, "She's so moody lately…more than usual, I mean."

"She seems nice enough."

"I never said she wasn't nice."

Sitting down next to my on my blanket, she said, "I don't have anything to compare it to, I guess…since I didn't meet her until after-"

"Yeah. That." I knew what she was talking about.

"What's going on with that anyway?"

"Not much."

An epiphany came to her, "You're who she was yelling at outside yesterday!"

"Yep…that would be me."

She laughed, "So are you gay too?"

"Oh no. No. Not at all." I said quickly. I should have clarified that, "Are you?"

"Of course not. I don't believe in it."

I chuckled, "Don't believe in it like it doesn't exist?"

"Maybe."

Maybe? What the fuck? "Huh?"

"What?"

"Gay people don't exist?"

"Only psychologically."

"Do what?" I was increasingly confused.

"Oh. Nevermind." She said, swatting a small fly that landed on her knee.

Maybe she was crazy. Tawny was right. This girl was a little weird…this may have been a bad idea. Tawny usually was right about most things. I thought she was just jealous or something, but maybe she wasn't.

After a bit of awkward silence, Keely piped up again, "My friend Phil – he's who I came here with – he met some people yesterday, and he introduced me to them."

I smiled slightly, "Is there a point to this story?"

"No…not really…just making conversation."

"Because the gay people not existing conversation wasn't working out?" I brought it up again.

She ignored it, "There's Phil." She pointed, "And that girl…that's…um…"

"I'll be fucked in the ass…" I said, "It's Kate."

"You know her."

"Of course I do. Kate, Lizzie, Gordo, Miranda, and Lizzie's little brother Matt are all practically squatting at Ren's house."

"_The_ Ren?" She asked.

"Yeah. It sure is a small fucking world here in Sacramento."

"Wow. Do they all know Tawny?"

"Of course." Then I yelled, "Kate!"

She looked up from her fingernails, which she was examining, didn't see me, and went back to her business.

I yelled again, louder, "Kate Sanders!"

Again, she looked up. She waved this time, taking note of me, and went back to her fingernails. She did a double-take, seeing Keely, who she had apparently met through Phil, Keely's friend, who was also staying at Tawny's house. Interesting. She tilted her head, leaned over and said something to Lizzie, who turned, and then she got up and started to approach. I had become rather fond of her since we met.

"You know Keely?" She asked, pointing.

"Did you know her and Phil know Tawny?"

"No…not so much…" She furrowed her brow, and seemed fascinated, "How'd that work?"

"We're staying at Tawny's house actually." Keely told her.

"Huh." She muttered.

"Is Ren here?" I asked, a new theory for Tawny's disappearance popping into my mind.

"Nah. Just me, Lizzie, Gordo, and Phil. Miranda ran off with the boys today."

"I'd like to meet her," Keely said, "See what the big deal is about her."

"To do that you'd probably have to go to her house."

There went my theory. I thought maybe Tawny had spotted Ren, and that was why she peaced out so fast. This called for a subject change. No good would come of Keely getting involved in the Tawny and Ren fiasco, "Miranda getting anywhere with Louis?"

She shrugged, "Dunno. She's trying though…wants to get some play before college."

Phil and Gordo sat down on either side of Lizzie after having romped up to their knees in the water before they ran back to the warm sand. I nodded in their direction, "Those boys are sandwiching your lady."

She looked over her shoulder, "Oh shit…the peanut butter."

"Huh?"

Kate shook her head, "Nothing. Why don't you guys relocate and join our group? You can meet Phil. He's a nice guy, on par with Gordo. Not quite as smart, but nice."

"What do you mean _her lady_?" Keely asked, sounding offended suddenly.

"What?" Kate and I expressed our confusion simultaneously. The girl was being weird again.

"Are you a lesbian too?"

"More or less…" Kate answered unsurely.

"You don't look like a lesbian."

"Ok?" She seemed to wait for the other blond girl to say more, but she didn't, so she went on, "I'm gonna go sit back by my…" She hesitated, and a near-evil grin crossed her face, "_Girlfriend._"

Keely gasped, "My gramma was right. There are a lot of gay people in California."

"Kate and Lizzie aren't even from here, hun." I squinted, not because of the sun, but because I was trying to figure out what this girl was getting at, "What's with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you some kind of…"

"Some kind of what?"

"You don't like gay people!" I shouted.

Some people walking by turned, and I smiled innocently at them before turning back to her, shocked. _That_ was why Tawny wanted me to stay away from her, she was some holier than thou, mislead, closed-minded girl.

"If I _liked_ gay people, I'd be gay."

I shook my head firmly, "No. No. No. No. Why the hell do you wanna fuck me?"

"To see what the big deal is."

"There is no big deal, Keely."

"Why are so many people gay?" She asked, honestly.

I blinked, dumbfounded, "Lizzie and Kate haven't even fucked yet. All they do is lay around and cuddle."

"You're not gay."

"So?"

"So!" I should have listened to Tawny. This girl had some redeeming qualities, but was ultimately foreign to me. I stood up, "Get off my towel. I'm moving."

She stood, and didn't seem to understand why I was getting angry. She opened her mouth as if to say something, and I waited but no words came. She looked near tears, and I felt bad for her. She seemed an aptly capable individual, she just didn't understand, and I wondered how the hell she was getting on at Tawny's house.

I turned and joined the other group, leaving her behind, when I reached them, I said, "That girl, Keely, she agreed to have lesbian sex with me and it turns out she's a homophobic little wench."

Phil looked at me, and I couldn't read his expression.

"Sorry…" I mumbled, "I'm Ruby."

He extended his hand, "Phil Diffy."

"Nice to meet you." I plopped myself down by Gordo, and noticed that Lizzie was holding a jar of peanut butter rather protectively. It was full jar. A perfectly good jar. Lizzie had always seemed one of the more stable ones, but whatever. I'd definitely choose her and her pet jar of peanut butter over the hot, homophobic girl. Not that I would have sex with Lizzie or anything like that.

"Sorry about Keely…" Phil apologized for her, "I'm realizing now that I didn't know her as well as I thought I did…and I suppose she feels the same about me…"

"Why? What happened?"

"Yeah. You never told us." Gordo said.

"Because…well…I guess the best way to put it is that I'm a little bit gay."

Kate looked up from her nails. She had been picking the polish off of them in an obsessive-compulsive manner for a good while now, and Lizzie looked up from the peanut butter. Gordo just looked at the ocean, and Keely was nowhere around.


	15. Ren Makes Great Sandwiches

Chapter 15: Ren Makes Great Sandwiches  
Kate: Stevens house, Ren's room, Sacramento: 4:41pm: 19 June

I sat lazily in the papasan chair in the corner of Ren's room. Ren had given up her bed to Lizzie, and moved herself and the book she was reading to her desk where she wasn't facing either of us. Lizzie dozed off and I was about to, though I felt a little sunburnt, and knew I should invest my time into putting some aloe on myself, or make Lizzie put aloe on me. I giggled out loud at the thought on accident, and Ren turned to look at me.

"Sorry." I whispered.

"It's ok." She went back to her book for a moment then turned around and asked, "Where's Gordo?"

"I think Miranda talked him into hanging out with the guys to man him up or something. She thinks he's gay all of a sudden."

"Since that Phil kid is gay?"

"I dunno. I think that's what got the idea into her head."

"Do you think he is?"

I shrugged, "I thought about it, but I suppose when you realize you're kinda gay, you sorta think everyone else is gay too."

She laughed. It faded and she went back to her book once more.

"Ren?" I said with a sigh.

"Hmm?" She didn't bother to look up or turn.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Why?"

"Nothing. Nevermind."

She turned and looked at me for what felt like a very long time before saying, "Do you think I might like Tawny?"

I wasn't sure what the right answer to that question was, so I shrugged.

"No. Seriously."

"Ren…come on…"

"You were going to say something about Tawny. I know you were." She said with a bit of an attitude.

"No…"

"Kate."

"Ok. Yes."

"What?"

"I just…I dunno."

She threw her arms into the air, slammed her book shut and then stomped out. I sat a little bit stunned by her sudden outburst. Normally, any similar fits of anger were directed at Louis, not anyone else. As the scene registered in my head, she stormed back in and said, "Mom wants me to make dinner and I'm making sandwiches because I don't feel like it. That ok?"

"Yeah…" I said shyly, afraid she would shout at me again, and somehow relate sandwiches to Tawny.

"K. Wake Lizzie up." Then she left again, and this time didn't come back.

I didn't want to wake her up. She looked so cute and peaceful. I smiled a bit, and then thought of the aloe rubbing which I would make happen later. We were taking it slow, but oh my God, it was so painfully slow. There was no choice in the matter really because of her stitches and all.

"Lizzie." I said quietly.

She squirmed and made a soft moan.

"Lizzie." I said slightly louder.

Lizzie lazily flopped one arm off the bed and looked at me sideways, "Kate…are you going to tell your parents?"

"What made you ask that?"

"Just wondering…" She yawned, "Time for dinner?"

"In a minute. We're just having sandwiches."

She rubbed her eyes and continued laying there, looking at me, "So are you going to tell them?"

"Probably not."

"Never?"

"Never. They don't care…about me, so it doesn't matter."

"Oh…" She responded sympathetically, "Do you want me to tell mine?"

"No pressure. It doesn't make much of a difference to me really…at least not at the moment. I mean…we just got together."

"Yeah…I guess you're right." She said sitting up and stretching, "That was a nice nap."

"Want to rub aloe on my back?"

"Sunburn?"

I nodded and made a sad, pouty face.

She smiled, "I guess so. There's some in the bathroom. I'll do it after dinner."

"Sounds great!"

"You're way to excited for me right now." She mumbled, getting to her feet, "What did you say was for dinner?"

"Sandwiches."

"That it?"

"Yep." I got up as well and linked my arm with hers. As we walked down the stairs we heard a decent amount of yelling.

"When did everyone become gay!" Louis shouted in distress, his voice becoming very shrill.

"Dude…do you watch porn?" Twitty asked him, seriously.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm going to prove a point."

"Ok…yes, I watch porn." Louis gave in.

"Do you like the men to have little pathetic dicks, dude?"

"No. They need to have big, throbbing…" His jaw dropped.

"Louis. Dude. Gay is like…doesn't matter, and girls kissing is hot."

Ren stood in the doorway to the kitchen and laughed, "Louis."

"Ohmigod, I'm gay."

"No…dude…you're not _gay_, but everyone is just a little bit gay in some way." Twitty said surely.

"What? Are you gay too?" He squinted and looked like he would faint at any given moment.

"No. Man. Chill." He sighed, "There's a difference between gay and _gay._" He put a great deal more emphasis on the last gay.

"Who's gay now?" Lizzie asked.

"My cousin!"

Everyone blinked.

Lizzie laughed, "Gordo's not gay."

"He is! He admitted it!"

"When? And where is he?"

Ren butted in, "Him and Miranda went upstairs right before you came down. You must've just missed them."

"Is he gay?" Lizzie asked Ren.

She shrugged, "Dunno. Don't care really. Not like I wanted to date my own cousin or anything."

"He said Twitty was hot!" Louis squealed.

"Well…I am." Twitty said confidently, "And now…Kate and Lizzie should kiss because it's hot."

I rolled my eyes, and Ren laughed. Lizzie looked at him and said, "Umm…no."

"Why not?" He whined.

"Yeah…why not?" Louis whined as well.

"The sandwiches are ready, you know." Ren said before dipping back into the kitchen.

I grabbed the collar of Lizzie's shirt and pulled her toward me, and kissed her quickly. This left Louis and Twitty staring and dazed long after we had moved on and entered the kitchen. I wanted to eat and get it over with so I could engage in some nice, cool, soothing, aloe-rubbing action.

"What kind of sandwiches did you make?" Asked Lizzie.

"Peanut butter and jelly. I kept it simple." She grabbed hers and started to go out again. I assumed back up to her room because she had turned into a crazy reclusive introvert.

"Wait." Lizzie muttered, "The peanut butter…"

I took a bite out of the sandwich, and the boys rushed in giggling and snatched up sandwiches for themselves which they began to chomp on and talk through mouthfuls of food.

Ren looked at her confused, "Huh? What about it? Do you not like chunky? I'm sure we have some smooth."

Miranda and Gordo burst in, and Miranda's eyes were huge, "Yay! Food!"

The middle Stevens child stood waiting for Lizzie to say more, and bit into her sandwich looking rather impatient, "Lizzie? What?"

Gordo looked intensely upset, took a sandwich and sat down alone at the table.

"What's up?" Miranda said, coming to stand next to Lizzie, who looked extremely pale, despite the fact that she'd been at the beach most of the day.

"The peanut butter…" She said again.

"What about it?" Ren asked.

"Where did you get it?"

"I dunno…mom must've picked it up. It was sitting on the counter."

Lizzie dropped her sandwich.

"Hey!" Louis yelled, and grabbed it up, "Five second rule! Ha!"

And then it hit me, and I think it hit Miranda at about the same time because she began to chew very slowly and didn't seem to be able to swallow.

"Oh shit…" She said.

Ren was very confused, and didn't know anything about the very special situation, "What?"

"Oh my fucking God!" I screamed, "We just ate Claire! Her parents are going to be so mad at me!"

"What do you mean?" Ren looked like she'd throw up, and I rather felt like it myself…seeing as I had just eaten a chunk of Claire too.

"Her parents adore her!" I said.

"No!" She yelled back at me, "How the hell did we eat Claire!"

"Phil is from the future, and he turned her into a jar of peanut butter and refused to change her back because he wanted to make the world a better place!" Lizzie yelled.

"We weren't supposed to tell anyone that!" Miranda slapped her in the back of the head. It would have been humorous, but the circumstances were less than such.

"He's staying with Tawny. We have to call her house." I said to everyone, as they had all become deathly quiet.

Ren picked up the phone with a long face, and tossed it to Gordo, "You do it." She threw her sandwich onto the table, and more or less ran out of the kitchen.

Damn. Claire was going to be missing body parts. I wondered what I had eaten, and I hoped it was something unimportant like a finger.


	16. Mmm Éclairs

_**Michelle-Note: **New chapter! Who's excited! Yeah...ok. If you're lurking and reading this, you better review...haha...I'd appreciate it, and in turn you would appreciate it as well. It's a highly motivational force._

Chapter 16: Mmm Éclairs  
Ren: Stevens house, living room, Sacramento: 6:10am: 19 June

"So…Phil…is from the future, he used some futuristic device to change Claire into a jar of peanut butter, then he refused to change her back because he's trying to rid the present of evil, and I made sandwiches out of Claire?" I rattled off, not believing the fanciful tale that I had been presented.

"Exactly!" Kate exclaimed while jumping up and down, throwing quite a tantrum.

Phil was on his way over to attempt to remedy this very unreal situation. I remained skeptical and thought that it could very well be a huge, elaborate trick. I figured the initial plan of it was to somehow get me to talk to Tawny, but that didn't work out because I foiled it. Gordo called Tawny's, and only Phil was coming over, so it accomplished nothing. What was even better is they had no idea that I knew that I had ruined their childish ploy!

Phil burst through the front door moments later without a knock, "Where is she?"

"Who?" I asked.

"Claire!"

"Right here!" Lizzie said, running from the kitchen with the jar of opened, partially used peanut butter, and some half-eaten sandwiches.

I laughed. They were still playing this up.

"Ren, it's not funny." Kate seemed genuinely upset. What a good actress she was.

Phil seemed relieved, "I can put her back together…whole and unharmed…but what are we going to do with her after that?"

"Send her on her way?" I asked, stifling more laughter, "You guys aren't serious. The gig is up. You can stop playing around now. You got me."

"This is not a joke!" Lizzie, Kate, Miranda, and Gordo said in unison.

I blinked, a little shocked. This wasn't possible though.

"I suppose if I can reassemble her properly…I can erase her memory." He shrugged, pulling a device that looked remarkably like a TV remote control from his back pocket.

"Should I call a cab to get her out of here?" Gordo asked.

"You're not serious…" I muttered.

He ignored me and picked up the phone, and also began flipping through the phone book.

"Sit her over there in that open space on the floor." Phil told Lizzie, who did his bidding, "Alright. Stand back."

He pressed several buttons, making deeply thoughtful faces, while everyone else watched in silence. I wondered what the climax of this silly joke would be, and then suddenly, something that looked to be a bit of lightening shot out of the end of the remote for just a second. It was followed by a flash, and the next thing I knew Claire was standing in my living room, surrounded by several pieces of partially consumed bread, as well as some jelly.

She looked as if she would say something, but then stopped, and just looked completely confused.

I knew my mouth was hanging open, and I looked around. No one else was remotely shocked. Everyone knew about this, but me! It was like some sort of secret club! Everyone knew that Phil was from the future, except Ren. Even my stupid brother Louis knew and Twitty. They had told them, but not me. That wasn't fair.

In another flash, Claire seemed increasingly confused, and dazed.

"I'll take her outside to catch her cab." Twitty volunteered, looking substantially excited.

"I've erased her memory of everything immediately before the peanut butter, and she won't remember anything for the next twenty-five minutes or so." Phil informed us.

"You can…do that?" I spat out.

He nodded, "From the future. Did no one tell you?"

I looked around, and many pairs of guilty eyes wouldn't make contact with mine, "No…no one told me…until a little while ago…after I had already smeared her all over some bread."

"What about the parts of her we…um…ate?" Kate asked.

"Oh…I just reconstructed her. No big deal. I'm sorry about that though…freaking you out and all."

Twitty lead Claire outside, whispering things in her ear that I couldn't hear; I didn't really care to hear them…to be honest.

"Phil…mind if I walk with you back to Tawny's? I'd like to talk to her about something…" Gordo said shyly.

He shrugged, "Sure." Then said to everyone else, "Later."

"Wanna watch a movie?" Louis asked, "Now that all of the excitement has subsided." He winked at Miranda.

"Oh…um…yeah!" She said excitedly.

I rolled my eyes. They certainly did have a real plot this time, but they weren't being very smooth about it. It hadn't quite set in yet the implications of Phil's origin, and I didn't care to put any deep though into it. It was rather overwhelming.

Blankets were grabbed from the closet and everyone piled onto the furniture in the living room. Lizzie and Kate got cozy under a blanket together at one corner of the sofa, while Miranda and Louis claimed the loveseat. I was the only odd person, and I sat next to Kate. Matt was lurking around, not seeming interested in the idea altogether.

"When Twitty comes back in…if he comes back in…can we go upstairs and play video games in your room?" He asked Louis.

"Sure, little buddy."

"Oh…and Ren…you're really hot…why don't you have a boyfriend?" The younger boy added during his ascent up the stairs.

I glared at him, and didn't answer. "I think we have some éclairs in the freezer. Anyone want one?"

"Please…don't call them that." Kate whined, pathetically.

"But that's what they're called."

"I can't eat anything that involves Claire…I'll throw up." Lizzie commented.

Louis snickered, "I'm such a pervert."

"Huh?" I asked.

He shook his head and straightened up, "Nothing…sorry."

My brother picked some random movie that I didn't care about, but I didn't want to be unsocial because everyone kept flipping out about it, so I stuck around, and tuned it out. Kate and Lizzie looked awfully snug together under their blanket, and Louis and Miranda looked almost like a cute, wholesome couple. For a minute there, I wished Tawny were around…no…not Tawny – a boy. What good would Tawny do me in this situation?

"Oh my God!" Lizzie screamed suddenly, flailing around, and ending up completely on top of the blanket she under seconds before.

Kate began to laugh hysterically, and everyone turned to see what had happened to cause such a raucous. Louis was alert enough to pause the movie.

Once Lizzie realized everyone's attention was now on her, she blushed slightly, and wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. Kate continued to laugh.

"What just happened?" Louis asked curiously.

"Nothing." She answered quickly, only to provoke more laughter from Kate.

"No. Seriously. What?" I asked as well.

"I don't think I want to know really…" Miranda said with a sigh and got up and walked toward the kitchen, "I need some more soda."

We continued to stare, but then lost our interest as Lizzie was showing no sign of confessing what strange thing just occurred. She looked quite terrified, really. I felt bad for her, but had no idea what could have happened.

Miranda sauntered back in, and didn't look at Lizzie and Kate. Then once we had all turned around again to restart the movie, Lizzie whispered loud enough for me to hear, "You're such a slut."

"I am not." Kate grumbled.

"Are."

"How?"

"I won't say it in front of everyone and you know what I'm talking about."

"Shhh!" Miranda said frustrated.

Kate tried to muffle her laughter with the blanket. During breaths of air she managed to get out, "I'm…so…sorry…"

Louis paused the movie again, and this time before he could get it out, I asked, "Ok. What the hell happened?"

"You don't wanna know." Lizzie said harshly.

"Now I really wanna know." Louis responded turning toward them again.

Kate began, "Lizzie's upset because I-"

"Don't say it!" The other girl wagged her finger at her.

"I wasn't-"

"No!"

"You're being silly, Lizzie."

"Why would you do that?"

"What'd she do?" I questioned.

"It's more something I didn't do." Kate laughed, and seemed to be rather enjoying this entire scene.

"Why didn't you?" Lizzie asked between her teeth.

"I don't have any."

"Oh my God!" She said in shock again, "You can borrow mine! You can't just…not…"

"Oh…gladly, and then I'll be able to say that I really got into Lizzie McGuire's underpants."

"Hmm." Louis said before turning back to Miranda, who was vigorously shaking her head. He restarted the movie without another word.

"I'm gonna go upstairs." I muttered. What a strange world we lived in. A lesbian freaked out cus she accidentally touched her girlfriend's vagina, and there's a boy staying with Tawny that is from the future and has a channel changer thing that can change people into peanut butter, and he can also erase peoples' memories. Maybe…he could erase all evidence of Tawny from my memory…since she seemed to be the source of much discomfort these days, or even better…he could make her not be in love with me.

Oh, the possibilities.


	17. Exclaimation point!

_**Michelle-Note: **I must say...I agree with my lurking reviewer...this is intensely dull. I know where's it's going (it's headed toward something semi-dramatic), but getting there is posing a wee problem. I'm trying to fix it, and I have been, but I feel I'm just putting everyone in silly situations. I think I should maybe change the label... And yes, Jareth...Ren's remote is weird looking. I forgot what a Wizard looked like, that was my bad._ _As far as the title, likes to cut out multiples of things, so I can't be like...mmm tasty! See. Oh wait...it worked. That's whack. They also seem to enjoy taking out my colons at random, which I don't appreciate.  
_

Chapter 17!  
Tawny: Dean house, front porch, Sacramento: 10:34am: 20 June

Phil had never come back the night before when he went over to the Stevens' house to fix some massive fuck up. My dad was concerned, but not concerned enough to do anything, and Keely, clearly, still harbored some bitterness toward him, as she refused to go look for him. I couldn't bring myself to call over there. I could have called Kate or Lizzie, but that didn't bode well either.

Instead, I just sat outside on my front porch waiting for him to show up. It was a cloudy day so this was tolerable.

Keely poked her head out of the door, "Tawny...phone...it's Miranda."

Miranda, huh? The blond extended her arm out with the phone in her hand, andnodded. She showed no inclination of actually stepping outside, and as soon as I took the phone, she dipped back inside as quickly as she had come out.

"Hello?"

"Hi. Tawny. It's Miranda."

"Yeah, I know," There was silence on the other end of the line, "What's up?"

"Well...Gordo never came back last night after walking with Phil back to your place..."

"Oh." That was a tad surprising.

"Oh?"

"They never showed up here. Phil hasn't come back yet."

"Seriously?"

"No. I'm totally making this up." I said sardonically.

"What do we do?"

"I dunno...not my problem really."

"What..." she began, but then gave up, "Fine."

And she hung up. I sat the phone next to me and didn't move from my seaton the steps. I wondered what could have happened. They'd turn up...at least I hoped so. I hoped mostly that it would be without any sort of big scene. I twisted my hair around my finger and started thinking of the worst possible scenarios that could stem from this. Phil's family could end up exposed, and Gordo...he seemed to be a sensible, responsible-type like Ren...not one to run off and not tell anyone what's going on.

"Oh my God!" Interrupted my thoughts.

I looked up, and winced, "Why are you here?"

Ruby looked a little confused about that herself and scratched her head, "Well...I...uh..." Her attention drifted to the window, "Ah ha!"

I turned to see Keely quickly duck out of sight and leave the curtain swishing in her aftermath.

"You're still going to try to fuck Keely?" The whole situation had lost it's amusing quality, but then again...I had never found it particularly amusing to start with.

"What's she doing in there?" Ruby said, not looking at me, but examining all of the other front windows.

"Looks like she's hiding from you."

"Why!" She crossed her arms, "What'd you do?"

"Me? I didn't do a damn thing. She's hiding from _you_ not _me_."

"What's got your panties in a bunch, sweetpea?" She finally actually noticed me, who she had been talking to, but not looking at for quite a while.

"Nothing."

"Still stuck on Ren, huh?"

I looked at her in a way that made her take a step back then I got up and headed for the door. She tried to follow me in, but I slammed it in her face, and locked it before she could weasel in. She let out some pathetic, moan of impatience, and I ignored it. I caught a glimpse of Keely ducking behind the couch, "Keely Teslow. Come out from there right now."

Silence.

"I saw you go back there."

Her head poked up.

"Why are you hiding from Ruby? I know she's annoying, and I hide from her

sometimes too, but she seems to greatly want your company."

"She hates me!"

"Does not."

"Does." She dipped back down to where I couldn't see her.

I went and flopped on the couch, looking over the back, "Ruby doesn't hate anyone. She gets made at people, and then forgets about it the next day."

"Really?" She said optimistically.

"Yep. Now go out there so she'll leave." I smiled at her childishness. She was nothing like Ren. How could I be attracted to her?

She looked up at me, "Why are you nicer to me than you are to everyone else...comparatively?"

"You need it."

"Why?" She paused and thought about it, "I do not."

"Because."

Ruby started to bang on the door, and Keely's expression of contemplation vanished. It looked like I had her gears turning for a moment there, but she didn't like the way it felt, so she stopped them. I'd fix this girl if it was the last thing I did. I watched bemused as she went outside to talk to Ruby.

I do believe I was struck with a pang of jealousy. How was it that Ruby was getting to bang a girl I was attracted to? At least it wasn't Ren...but still. I had made out the girl briefly, and she seemed quite interested in doing more...but not necessarily with me, which was hurtful, I suppose. I wasn't jealous enough to actually do anything.

My pensiveness was interrupted by Keely charging in and up the stairs. Ruby leaned against the door frame, "I win."

"Excuse me? Um…win what?" I asked.

"Keely?"

"Was there a competition for her? I didn't enter it..."

"You so have a crush on her. That means you're getting over Ren."

"It does not mean I'm getting over Ren." I protested.

"But you do have a crush on Keely?"

"No..."

"You're jealous."

Keely barreled back down the stairs with her tape recorder and a notebook, "Who's jealous?"

I gave Ruby a look like I wanted to suck out her soul and then make her eat it. She turned to Keely, "Oh...no one."

They departed and left me there to be introspective...if introspective really means pouty. I felt like a complete loser. I handle everyone's problems, but I couldn't figure out a course of action, much less the best course of action, for my own. It was really pretty lame.

_Bloop bloop!_

My cell. A text message. It was somewhere in the room, but where? I looked around in the obvious places, but saw neither hide nor hair of the gadget. I moved the cushions, and found it under me.

Pressing a few buttons, I muttered, "Oh shit..." I dropped it, "Shit. Shit. Shit."

_if u c gordo call me plz. hes missing. im worried_

A semi-coherent little ramble from Ren. She sent it four hours before, and it just now made it through. I suppose my house was hard to penetrate. I seldom even get a signal in it. She must have been super-desperate and super-worried about Gordo to resort to me. Maybe this whole thing was a trick to get me to talk to her. She wasn't scheming enough though. It was too elaborate. She was brilliant, but her creativity lacking. I'd figure it out once Phil came back. I was sure he would.

Phil and Gordo could handle themselves. They probably went off to have crazy butt-sex in the park. Or maybe Phil used his Wizard to turn one of them into a girl, and they had conventional sex. I laughed at the thought, and also what Keely would do when she found out.

Interrupting the highly amusing images in my head was the real Phil stumbling through the front door. His clothing was dirty and torn in places, and there were leaves and grass in his hair. There was no sign of Gordo, which meant I was not obligated to call Ren. I was tad disappointed that I wouldn't have an excuse to do something I wanted to do, but was too stubborn to do otherwise.

The amusing images returned, and perhaps they hadn't been so fictional after all. Of course as soon as he sat down I began my interrogation.


	18. Ruby Plus Keely

_**M/N: **Short chapter. And my new motto is: "When in doubt of a direction for your plot to take, make something horrible happen." Anywho...I'm open for suggestions from my...um...two readers. One gives me suggestions all the time which I always manage to work in...hehe. I know what's going to happen at the end of this. I just need some stuff to happen to get there, and my brain is running on empty these days._

Chapter 18:Ruby Plus Keely  
Ruby: Mendel house, living room, Sacramento: 12:00pm: 20 June

I looked around the room aimlessly rather than looking at the girl sitting next to me on the couch, who last I glanced, had her hands resting conservatively on her lap.

"So…what do we do?" She asked finally.

I shrugged, and started to think that maybe…just maybe…this was a bad idea after all.

"Can I tell you a secret?"

Raising an eyebrow I said, "Sure?"

"You've gotta not freak out."

"Uh…ok."

"Well…" She began reluctantly, "I sort of made out with Tawny."

"What!"

"You said you wouldn't freak out!"

"I did?"

"Yes, Ruby!"

"Oh yeah." I didn't know what bothered me more: that she made out with Tawny in general, or that she made out with Tawny and she's the girl with the extreme moral opposition to same-sex relations. Hell, what did it matter? She had agreed to engage in something that really was nothing more than a meaningless one-night stand.

"Well…I dunno why if that makes you feel better."

"I don't feel bad, hun. Tawny makes out with everyone if she can." I sighed, "She couldn't resist a pretty girl like you."

"You think I'm pretty!" Her eyes lit up.

"Yes…in a purely heterosexual manner."

"Are you sure?" She elbowed me and wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

I laughed, "Joking about gayness is the first step to becoming gay."

Her jaw dropped.

"I was kidding." I clarified quickly.

There was a firm knock on the front door. So firm it qualified as a police-man knock, even.

"Ignore it." I said, trying to keep her focused.

"What if it's important?"

"It's not. Nothing important ever happens." They could come back later if it was that important.

Another set of loud pounds ensued. Keely looked like she very much wanted to answer my door, "Ignore it," I said again, "If they really wanted in they'd ring the doorbell like a normal person."

The doorbell rang repeatedly in its tuneless manner.

"Ignore that too." I added. It was the Girl Scouts trying to sell cookies or something. I did enjoy the thin mints though…

The noises ceased and we could finally continue with our endeavor. She had jotted down several random things that I couldn't read then looked up, "Now what?"

"Let's make out."

"Here? On the couch? What if your parents come home?"

"Oh my God! You're backing out aren't you!"

"No…"

"Dammit! Ruby open the door!" Tawny screamed from outside and began pounding again and ringing the doorbell, creating a ruckus that was impossibly to work around. Not the Girl Scouts at all, and no cookies for me.

With a groan, I got up. "She's here to spoil my fun…that whore…" I muttered, spitefully. She pushed her way in the moment I unlocked the door and nearly knocked me down, "What do you want, Tawny? You're such a crazy, jealous bitch."

"Gordo is missing." She said, ignoring my comment.

"Huh?" I was completely clueless.

"Phil came back and Gordo is missing." She said.

"What happened?" Keely asked, getting up.

"Phil won't talk about it. He came back pretty beat up. I think they fucking got mugged or something. I don't know. Someone has to go tell Ren and everyone about-"

"Ok. No." I butted in, "You go tell all of them Tawny. You know the most out of all of us."

She glared.

"I'm gonna go back to your place," Keely said to her, and gathered her things in a hurry, "Maybe I can get Phil to talk to me."

Tawny nodded, and turned back to me, "Please."

"No. You need to get over this aversion of yours. Gordo is fucking missing, and you're going to not tell people just because you don't want to come into contact with Ren? You're being an idiot! Get over it!"

"Call me if anything happens, Keely!" She shouted after the other girl as she exited.

"Tawny!" I yelled.

"What!" She snapped back, "You don't know anything!"

"I know you need to get the fuck over what's bothering you because it isn't important enough to not talk to Ren when Gordo could be dead in a ditch!"

"Don't say that!"

"Well…I've gotta say something so you'll get your head out of your ass!"

"I'll have Keely do it if you won't."

"No you won't. Is everyone going to go look for him and you're just going to sit in your damn house so you won't bump into Ren? Hell no, you selfish little bitch because I am not going to let you."

Without warning she gave me a hard shove, and I stumbled back a few steps.

"Oh no, you didn't just push me." I said, shaking my head. I ran forward and pushed her back into the door that slammed shut as her back hit it.

"What the fuck, Ruby?"

Then I slapped the shit out her without a second thought.

She stood staring at me for what felt like hours just touching her reddened face. I had surely left a handprint. She remained expressionless, as she said, "I can't believe you hit me…"

"I can't believe you'd put someone in danger because of some weird issue you have."

"Fine. You're right." She said grudgingly, still rubbing her cheek.

"Fine! I'm right!" I repeated with disbelief.

"I'll go."

"I'll get you some ice." I did feel bad, but it had to be done. Perhaps I had fixed the poor, broken Tawny. But that was of little importance because Gordo was missing. What could have happened? I ran into the kitchen and dropped some ice cubes in a zip-loc bag then wrapped it in a paper towel.

When I got back to the door, Tawny said, "Ren sent me a text message."

"Really?"

"Yeah cus she was worried about Gordo."

I handed her the ice, and she pressed it to her face, "Sorry about that."

"I deserved it."

"This is really freaking me out…you admitting I was right and all."

"Shut up…I called my dad and he said he's coming home early."

"Good. Let's go to Ren's now."

"Ok…" She muttered reluctantly and headed out. I followed her to her car and we drove the two minutes to Ren's in silence. What could have happened that was so traumatic that Phil wouldn't talk about it to Tawny, and that Gordo is missing. A slew of horrible ideas rushed my thoughts, and I pushed them away. I was the optimistic one, for God's sake. The unrealistic optimistic one to be precise. Everything was fine. No, really, fine.

We walked up to the Stevens' house, and I rang the doorbell. Louis answered saying, "Oh shit, Tawny! You're alive!"

"No time for that." I pushed passed him, and Tawny slinked in after me.

Ren was making her way down the stairs and stopped midway. My companion remained sulkily behind me with her head down.

"Oh, Ren!" I exclaimed.

"Tawny…" She mumbled.

"No, I'm Ruby, sweetpea."

She seemed to know we were bearers of bad news, "What happened?"

"We don't know…" I began.

Tawny continued, "Phil showed back up at my place a while ago…looking really rough…and he won't talk…he's just been sitting…mumbling…no sign of Gordo."


	19. The Search Begins

_**M/N: **Anonymous reviews have always proved to be a bad idea with me. Whenever I've had them enabled, I've gotten flamed by pansies that don't want to log in and do it, and then I end up dedicating half of the next chapter to an author's note cussing them out because I'm too immature to let it go. haha. But yeah...anywho...next chapter! People without accounts can just send me an email or whatev. I've had a few people do that over the years. No matter. After some brainstorming I deciphered a direction (thanks Jareth)!_

Chapter 19: The Search Begins  
Ren: Sacramento Park, by the fountain, Sacramento: 1:30pm: 20 June

Shortly after Tawny finished her spiel, Keely called and said for us to look in the woods at the park, and also said that Phil's Wizard was missing. The latter fact made the situation a tad more delicate. We couldn't very well involve the police with Phil's little future gadget.

I began to dictate orders once the group was well-formed, "We're splitting up and searching the woods. We'll split up into pairs and everyone is going to go in a different direction. We'll meet back here at the fountain in three hours."

"Get on with it Ren." Ruby whined.

I glared at her, "If you need help or anything happens please call someone, and start yelling. We'll find you." I scanned the group, "Louis, Kate. You two go that way." I pointed, "Beans, go with them too, you know your way around the woods pretty well." He nodded and followed the two off between the trees. "Twitty, you go with Miranda, and head in that direction." I pointed again, "Tawny go with Lizzie and Matt, and Ruby come with me."

Tawny shuffled off, leaving the two McGuires behind as I jumped down from the bench I was using as a pedestal.

Ruby whispered, following my gaze, "She didn't even wanna come at all. She wanted me to come tell you what happened."

"Why?"

"You are so oblivious sometimes. You, Ren, she didn't want to be anywhere near you."

"How'd you get her to come?"

She shrugged, "Let's go find Gordo and hope he's still alive."

"Don't say that!" I shouted. He was my cousin. This could ruin the very thin ties joining his side of the family to mine. Fried chicken almost did it, so actually losing a human being would be complete destruction.

We trudged off into the woods, saying nothing else. Did Gordo attack Phil and steal the Wizard maybe? Hell no. That was nonsense. I kept my eyes peeled for the blue device, which was sure to stand out in the green and brown of the forest.

"Ew. Bugs." Ruby whined.

"We're in the woods, what do you expect?"

She began frantically brushing things off in a seizure-like fit, but there was nothing on her.

I laughed at her and walked on being careful to avoid some thorny bushes, "Watch out for those." I said as I passed, "They look a bit more dangerous than your invisible bugs."

"Ruby! Ren!" Larry ran to catch up with us, jumping over forest debris, "What are you two doing out here? You're too pretty to be trekking through the woods."

"Ha ha…" I said, "We can't really talk about it."

"Weird. Ok."

"What are you doing here?" Ruby asked him.

He pointed to the backpack on his back, "I sorta did something real stupid last night."

"Can you talk about it?" I asked.

"You might not want me to…" He looked terribly embarrassed.

"I wanna know." Ruby said.

"Well…I was coming out here to get stoned last night-"

I punched him hard in the arm, "Don't do that!"

"Ow…" He winced, "I told you that you wouldn't wanna know."

"Keep going, Larry…ignore the prude." Ruby encouraged.

As we kept walking, he continued, "So I was in the park, and I ran into this girl, and she was real confused. She looked like one of those girls from your party, but it was dark, so I dunno, and I didn't ask her name cus I was already a little high…"

I balled up my fist to hit him again, but he grabbed Ruby and put her in the middle of us.

"Did you maybe see Gordo last night?" Ruby asked.

"Gordo? Ren's poofy-haired cousin? Did he go missing? Is he who you're looking for? Why don't you call the cops, man!"

"Shut up, Larry. I know what I'm doing. What else happened last night?" I now thought it might be useful to know if he saw anything.

"Alright…so…this girl…she wanted to get high too cus she was so unhappy and wasn't sure what was going on, so we walked way out into the woods, and found a nice clearing, and we got really, really stoned, and then we took off our clothes."

Ruby seemed highly amused, but I was not.

He continued, "We were about to have sex when we heard some rustling in the bushes-"

"You were going to have sex with someone you just met!" I reprimanded him.

Larry looked embarrassed again, "Well…we didn't…if that makes it ok cus we were interrupted, and I thought it was a bear or some shit, and I completely freaked out. I grabbed my clothes…and um…I accidentally grabbed her clothes, and I ran like hell…so I think you can figure out the rest from there…" He coughed nervously, "I'm a horrible person, and I just woke up and realized what happened…"

I was in complete shock, "You left a girl in the woods…naked! Larry Beale, I'm so ashamed of you! Maybe you've learned your lesson about marijuana now!"

Rubbing his arm from the first time I hit him, he said, "Well…I'm gonna go off this way and try to find her and give her clothes back."

"That was interesting…" Ruby said, as he bounded away.

"Didn't help us at all though."

"Maybe what they heard was Gordo and Phil?"

I shrugged, "Sure as hell wasn't a bear. Well…I hope it wasn't."

"Hey! I see something!" She exclaimed, "Stay here, I'll be right back." Then she ran off.

What could she have seen? Probably nothing. She just wanted to go talk to Larry. She was so unfocused on the important things going on. I stuck around in the general area and walked around a big tree. On the other side I was startled by Tawny, who backed up abruptly before we crashed into one another.

"Why aren't you with Lizzie and Matt? We can't afford to lose anyone else in the woods." I snapped.

"I wouldn't prevent them from getting lost. Do you think I got this pale from exploring the woods? I could get lost in my own yard, Ren."

"I'm sorry."

She ignored me and started to walk away.

"Ren! Oh my God! Ren!" Ruby shouted from somewhere a short distance away.

Tawny perked up and moved toward her voice.

"What is it!" I yelled back, trying to keep up with Tawny, who was walking pretty quickly. I noticed then a red blotch on her face. I reached out and grabbed her wrist, "What happened to you?"

She looked back at me, saying nothing then seemed to notice I was touching her and jerked away, "Ruby hit me."

"What!"

"What are you yelling for Ren?" Ruby popped out from behind a bush, "Look at this!" She held up a bit of blue cloth that she had obviously picked from the thorny bush, "And there's blood here."

"Looks like part of Phil's shirt." Tawny said, examining the area, "Do you think he could have fallen down that hill?" She asked nodding to the less flat ground behind Ruby.

Oh my God, did Gordo steal Phil's Wizard and then push him down a hill! No way!

Tawny pulled out her phone, and almost immediately said, "Hey Keel, have you gotten anything more out of Phil?" She looked pensive for a moment, before saying, "Ask him if he fell down a hill." She paused again, "Ok. Thanks."

"What's up?" Ruby asked her.

"Well…Phil just keep babbling about how he's in so much trouble cus of the Wizard, and when she asked if he fell down a hill, he nodded and looked mortified, but he wouldn't say anything about it…just kept going on about his gadget."

"Let's go up the hill then." I said, and started the journey upward. It wasn't very steep, but there was a lot of foliage to get though, and as I looked, it did appear that something large had rolled down and crushed a good bit of it.

"Shit!" Tawny said angrily.

Ruby and I turned back to find her tangled in a bush. I laughed a little to myself, and Ruby said, "Well…I'm gonna go ahead. You go help her."

I glared at her then headed back down.

"Damn plant has got my pants…" She muttered.

"Stop moving around." I bent down to try and get the vines off of her leg, "How'd you get in here like this?"

"I don't know! Stop being condescending."

"I wasn't…I just asked a question."

One of the thorns nicked the top of my hand, and I ignored it, having pulled away enough for her to get her leg out of the mess of militant plant.

"Oh shit! Oh my God! Oh shit! Ren! Tawny! Hurry! Shit!" Ruby began to scream.

We hurried up the hill, and found Ruby pointing up to something hanging from the limb of a tree. Gordo's camera.

"How the hell did it get all the way up there?" Tawny asked.

"Let's call everyone else and send them to search around this area because it's apparently where whatever it was that happened…happened." I said.

Ruby nodded and started to make the appropriate calls, while I stood and stared at the camera high in the tree. I felt a sudden painful sting in my hand, from the cut I had forgotten about. I looked down and saw the small trickle of blood.

"You went and hurt yourself." Tawny said, more bitterly than sympathetic. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a band-aid. She opened it then took my hand and stuck it over the little wound. She used her thumbs to make sure the adhesive was firmly clinging to my skin, and I just watched. She didn't hate me enough to let me bleed a little…that was good. I smiled slightly, and she dropped my hand quickly.

Larry stumbled out of some nearby bushes, "I can't find that chick. She couldn't have gone far…she was naked…I found the clearing where we were though, and the noises we heard definitely came from over in this area…"

"So it very well could have been Gordo and Phil…" I deduced.

"But what _happened_?" Tawny wondered aloud, and continued to look up into the tree.

"Gordo!" Ruby yelled.

Some leaves above us rustled, but there were no sign of anyone other than us. The forest was silent, except for the chirping of happy birds, oblivious to the terrible things that had happened.


	20. The Search Continues

_**M/N: **K...let me just say that I know nothing about kickboxing (though I have thought about doing it), but it sounded good to me at the time I was writing, and you'll understand when you get to that part. Enjoy!  
_

Chapter 20: The Search Continues  
Kate: Sacramento Park, the woods, Sacramento: 1:49pm: 20 June

I had been paired with Louis, and the kid with the big head that everyone called Beans. Out of all of the people I was stuck with Ren's idiot brother. Maybe I was being a bit too harsh on him. He kept tripping over everything, and his clothes kept getting tangled in vines every few feet. He was severely slowing my progress. We had an emergency on our hands and I kept having to stop so I could get him out of a bush, or get his foot stuck out of a rabbit burrow. I don't even know if rabbits have borrows!

Beans was knowledgeable about the woods, and had traipsed through them to get to his own house many times apparently. He knew his way around. I think Ren was aware that her brother was a moron, and sent Beans to help. The kid kept sniffing me though, saying something about how I smelled like bacon. I was wearing lilac scented perfume, how did I smell like bacon?

"Leave her alone, Beans." Louis said after a while, almost redeeming himself.

"She has bacon."

"Look, Kid." I grabbed his shoulders, "I do not have bacon. I have not had any bacon today. You're crazy, now let's look for Gordo."

He nodded, and I let him go.

"Why would Gordo and Phil have been in the woods anyway?" Louis asked.

I shrugged, "Gordo was always the cautious sensible one of his little group. I dunno about Phil, maybe it was Phil's doing."

"Hey…I saw something move over there." Beans pointed to a thicker area of plant-life.

"You two stay here." I told them.

"Why?" They asked simultaneously.

Because Louis is a clutz and I didn't want Beans to nibble on my arms when I wasn't looking, but I said, "Because I'm the oldest and I said so."

"You're really bossy." Beans whined.

"I've known Gordo longer." I said, hoping it would shut them up.

"But he's my cousin." Louis argued.

"I've still known him longer than you."

"I heard you failed kindergarten." He said smartly.

"Shut the fuck up." I glared, and snatched up a stick and threw it at him as I walked away. He squealed and jumped around as if it were a snake.

Marching off on my solitary mission deeper into the trees, I spotted some more movement. Maybe it was just a squirrel. But it was too big to be a squirrel. Deer? Were there deer here? Oh shit, a bear? No. I wished I had worn pants because there were certainly mosquitoes here, and some prickly-ass plants too. I called out, "Is anyone there? Gordo?"

There was more rustling in a little thicket area that was very dense. I bent down and peaked through some of the limbs and gasped.

"Kate? Omigod."

"Claire!" I exclaimed, "What the hell are you doing in the woods, and why are you…naked!"

"I…I don't know…"

"What happened?"

She was trying to keep herself covered, but I had already seem more of Claire than I ever wanted to, "I don't know."

I looked around, and I'd lost sight of Louis and Beans following naked Claire through the woods. I had walked fairly straight though, so it wouldn't be a problem to find my way back. I yelled to them, wondering if they could hear me, "Louis! Beans!"

"Shhhh!" She frantically squirmed back out of the bushes, and in her hand I saw the blue thing that Phil called the Wizard.

I pointed, and found myself speechless.

"What?"

"You have the…"

"No shit. That kid is an alien or something and I'm going to expose him."

I blinked, she suddenly seemed a lot less confused, "Maybe you should find your clothes first because you're the one that's exposed right now."

She attempted to strategically place her hands again, but it was far too late…again. I looked away, and she began a rant, "He turned me into a fucking jar of peanut butter somehow, and then tried to erase my memory, but it came back when I saw him. I was with that fellow…Larry, I think. He freaked out and ran away with my clothes, and left me there, so I snuck up-"

"You whore. Where's Gordo?"

"You _care_ about Gordo? He's your competition though, isn't he? Lizzie is still totally in love with him."

"You're a delusional bitch. Give me the Wizard."

"How about if I turn you into a worm?" She pointed it at me, which required her to uncover her breasts. She wasn't really phased though. I think she was more intimidating naked than when she was with clothes on, or maybe it was the futuristic device that was intimidating.

"You don't know how to use it." I responded.

"Wanna bet!"

I put my hands in the air, as if that would help the situation, "Alright…keep it…just tell me where Gordo is."

"Yeah right, Kate. Like I'm going to do that. You betrayed me."

"How the fu-"

"You dyke. You just wait until I tell your mother."

"I thought you were going to use the Wizard on me?" I taunted. She was really just a pussy, and she didn't know how to work it.

"I think it would be more fun to see your family's reaction when they find out that their daughter's a fag. They'll disown you and kick you out of your house, and then you starve on the street. You won't have anywhere to go, Kate, because I'm not your friend anymore, and Ethan doesn't want anything to do with you either, and these new friends of yours…" She laughed, "Do you think they really like you? No. No one ever liked you, Kate."

"What do you know about any of them?"

"More than you do." She shook the Wizard at me threateningly, "Give me your clothes, so I can get out of the fucking woods now, ok?"

"No."

She sneered, "They probably wouldn't fit me anyway because your ass is so huge."

"I'm fat? Are you saying I'm fat now?" Had she not been holding the Wizard, the amusement factor of this conversation would have gone up a lot.

"Yeah. You're a fat lesbian. That's why I stopped letting you borrow my clothes. I didn't want you to stretch them out. You're not as fat as Lizzie, but I mean-"

"Oh, shut the hell up, Claire." I put my arms down. I was going to get the Wizard from her.

"Make me."

"Fine." And I punched her in the center of her face with a solid right jab, causing her to stumble backwards, and breaking her nose, but she still held on to the Wizard, "I took kickboxing for three years, remember?"

"You hit me, you whore!" She seemed shocked, and hadn't realized she was bleeding. Left hook to her eye. Then she dropped the Wizard to latch on to my wrist. In quite a graceful bit she twisted me around and held my arms behind my back then whispered spitefully in my ear, "I took it with you, remember?"

"But you quit after two weeks and you never paid attention." Twisting my arm at the right angle, I pulled free and sent my elbow into the side of her head. She fell, and didn't move anymore. I'd knocked the bitch unconscious. I wiped my hands on my shorts, and picked up the Wizard feeling quite triumphant. Then I looked back at her, "I hope you fucking die here."

I was slightly taken aback that I thought it much less said it out loud. I was definitely going to hell now if I wasn't before. I ran back in the direction I'd come yelling for Louis and Beans that I'd found the Wizard.

They both popped out from behind a tree and looked gleeful.

"Any sign of Gordo?" Louis asked.

"Nope." I should have gotten more information out of her, I thought regretfully.

"Where'd you find it?" Beans asked.

"It was just laying back there in some bushes like someone tried to hide it." I lied. I really didn't want anyone to find Claire, and I wasn't feeling any remorse. I smiled, and took out my phone, "We should call Ren."

"Oh, Ruby called us a few minutes ago, and said they were onto something. It had to do with a hill." Louis told me, "I'll give her a call back. Beans thinks he knows the place they were talking about."

Beans nodded, "This way."

We began the trek while Louis talked on the phone. I was thankful they we were moving in the opposite direction of Claire's unconscious naked self. I smirked at my deed. It was evil. Far more evil than anything I'd ever done before. Why didn't I feel bad? Was it because she deserved it? Did she deserve it? I wasn't sure the more I thought about it, so I stopped thinking about it, just like I would stop thinking about Lizzie before, every time I thought about how awesome she was and how fun it would be to make out with her…among other things.

"Gordo!" Ruby screamed.

We still couldn't see them, but we were close, or maybe Ruby was just really loud. Soon we heard Tawny and Ren as well. My knuckles were starting to hurt. I hadn't actually done anything kickboxing related in about two years. I was a bit rusty, but not rusty enough not to be able to knock someone unconscious in three hits apparently.


	21. The Search Ends sort of

_**Michelle-Note: **I'm sorry that I'm painfully slow, and I suck at life, etc. etc. Merry Christmas, here's an update!_

Chapter 21: The Search Ends (sort of)  
Tawny: Sacramento Park, the woods, Sacramento: 2:36pm: 20 June

"Stop your bellowing, Ruby." I mumbled. Her shrill voice was slowly giving me a very painful headache, or maybe it was from staring up at the camera hanging from the scruffy tree. We had been searching around this silly little bit of woods for what felt like forever. Larry had wandered off again a few minutes before to find the mysterious naked girl of his.

"He's got to be here somewhere and I want him to hear me." She retorted.

"Gordo!" Ren shouted.

"How come you let her _bellow_, but not me?" Ruby snapped, immediately.

"She doesn't _bellow_. Only _you _bellow." I told her then glared and walked away from both of them. I heard Ruby's phone ring, and she answered. She was still talking at a needless intensity.

"Seriously?" She squealed. There was a pause, "Kate found the Wizard!"

"Kate found the Wizard?!" Ren questioned.

"Yes, Kate found the Wizard!" Ruby exclaimed again.

"Call Keely. Maybe we can get more out of Phil since we have the Wizard back." I suggested, though it was common sense. I wanted to find Gordo and get the hell out of the woods. I was becoming less and less of a fan the longer I was here, not mention that I was here with Ren, which made me want to curl up and die.

"Definitely." Ren agreed.

I turned away from them again, and saw Kate, Louis, and Beans quickly approaching. Kate had the blue device in her hand and looked unusually smug, and then I remembered that I'd abandoned her girlfriend a while back, and I winced thinking we might have to search for Lizzie and Matt now. And where were Twitty and Miranda? I got a slew of mental images answering my question, and decided it best to just not wonder where they were, and hope they'd turn up.

"We found the Wizard." Ruby said into her phone. "Yes, we found the Wizard!" She repeated. She hesitated then released an excited squeal when she saw Kate, "We have the Wizard!"

"Ask her to ask Phil-" I tried to say.

"Phil! Omigod! They found the Wizard!" I heard Keely yell through Ruby's phone.

"Ask about Gordo." I tried to say and wished I had called the girl instead of Ruby because she was not making good use of time.

"Keely! What about Gordo?!" Ruby yelled into her phone. Another pause, "She said they were coming to meet us and then she hung up, but she didn't ask where we were or anything…" Ruby stated, looking befuddled.

These woods were pretty big, they'd never find us. Keely realized the same thing a moment later and called back to get a description.

"Why is Gordo's camera in that tree?" Kate asked.

"We don't know…" Ren answered.

"That tree looks sort of like Gordo…" Beans said and laughed maniacally.

We all looked up, "Yeah…it kinda does." I muttered, "I think I've been in the sun too long."

Some leaves above us rustled, and then Kate said to me, "Where's my girlfriend? Wasn't she with you?"

I shrugged, "I left her and Matt a while back. I'm sure they heard Ruby yelling."

She shook the Wizard at me and crossed her arms, "You left my girlfriend and her little brother in this unfamiliar forest?"

I cowered a little, "Well…yeah."

"You lost my girlfriend."

"No. I'm sure I could find them if they don't find us."

"We're going to have to form a search party to find the rest of our search party."

The leaves above us rustled wildly, and we both gazed upward. I figured it was a squirrel or something, but I saw nothing. No sign of anything up there aside from leaves and normal tree parts, and Gordo's camera, of course.

"It sounds big…" Kate whispered.

"But there's nothing there."

"Maybe it's invisible." Beans said, butting into our conversation, "Like a chupacabra."

Everyone grew silent for a split second before noises came from behind us.

"Chupacabra? Where?!" Miranda hit the ground in the bushes like she had post-traumatic stress syndrome. Twitty just looked confused, and plowed up through the undergrowth. I was glad they weren't off having sex in the bushes, as this was no time for sex in the bushes because Gordo was missing and all. They were both dirty, dirty hookers though.

"There's no such thing as chupacabras." Ren tried to reassure her, and spoke calmly.

The entire tree began to sway.

"Chupacabra!" Miranda screamed and curled up in the fetal position.

"What's a chupacabra? Sounds tasty…" Louis mumbled, and rubbed his stomach.

Twitty nodded in agreement with him, and licked his lips, "I want a taco, dude."

"Motherfuckin' chupacabra!" Miranda yelled.

Ren stomped her foot, "Chupacabras are not real and Gordo is still missing, so get up off of the ground and let's find him!"

Ren was painfully cute and pouty and worried about her cousin. I on the other hand had become dead inside and was apathetic toward the entire situation. I kinda thought it was some big silly dream, even.

"Where is Lizzie?" Kate said more to herself than anyone else.

"The chupacabra probably ate her." Beans answered, and then ran off into the bushes.

The tree was whacking into other trees causing branches and limbs to break off around us.

"What the hell is happening?" I said aloud.

"Chupacabra!" Miranda wailed.

"Dammit! Can we focus at all?!" Ren tried to get everyone's attention. She raised her hand and waved it like a frustrated elementary school teacher on a field trip. This was no field trip, as we might very well be eaten by a chupacabra.

"All of this chupacabra talk makes me hungry, seriously." Louis lifted his shirt and looked at his slightly furry completely unattractive stomach, "What's up with this tree? It needs to chill."

Suddenly the tree stopped moving, and everything became silent.

Miranda whispered, "The chupacabra jumped down from the tree, and it's waiting to attack now."

"Chupacabras are not invisible!" Ren looked like she wanted to pull out her hair.

The other girl looked up from her position on the ground, "So you admit that they do exist though?"

"No! There is some other explanation!"

Keely and Phil ran up the hill, both of them out of breath.

"This…is…the spot…" Phil managed to gasp then leaned forward and put his hands on his knees to try to breathe.

"Why is Miranda…on…the ground…is she ok?" Keely asked, "And where…is…Lizzie?"

"Afraid of a chupacabra…" I answered, "And we lost Lizzie and Matt."

"No." Kate corrected, "You lost Lizzie and Matt."

"A chupa-what?" Keely said.

"It's a Mexican goat-blood-sucking monster thing." I told her.

Keely screamed, "Where is it?! Omigod! I knew it was a bad idea to wander out into the woods! But damn…this would make a great-"

"Chupacabras are not real!" Ren screamed again. She sounded like a broken record, and I noticed she was turning sort of red because she was getting _that _mad.

"And neither are people from the future." Phil mumbled. He was back to his old self now that the Wizard had been located and his heart rate had gotten back to normal. "The Wizard…give it to me, quick."

He took the blue thing from Kate, and pointed it at the Gordo-tree with the invisible chupacabra in it. Some beeps and chirps were emitted from the device, and then in a flash of light and some sparkles the tree shrank down to person size and turned into Gordo, and he held his camera in his hand.

Gordo shook his head and some leaves fell out of his Jew-fro, "You guy's are so…crazy."

"Gordo!" Miranda yelled then leapt up and hugged him.

"I am not a chupacabra."

"Chupacabra!" She let go of him and ducked behind him instead, clutching his legs.

Everyone blinked and looked dumbfounded. I suppose a chupacabra ate her pet goat when she was little? Then killed her baby sister? And her pet dog?

"So what happened?" Ren asked.

"Well…" Phil began, and cleared his throat.

"Lizzie!" Kate yelled and extended her arms for the girl clamoring up the hill in a careful, but rushed manner.

Lizzie's eyes rested on someone behind Kate though, and she dashed past the blonde and hugged Gordo instead. Kate forced a smile and crossed her arms, trying to play off the awkwardness. I think only I noticed, and she noticed me noticing and shrugged then looked on at the two best friends, clearly a little bit disappointed.

Matt walked up the hill a moment later and stood by Kate, "Looks like you might still have some competition…I think you're hotter than Gordo, so you can date me if Lizzie changes her mind." He whispered to her and then said, "Just kidding."

I sighed and said, "Hey…let's all go home."

Several nods of agreement followed.

"I'm hungry for some chupacabras!" Louis exclaimed.


	22. RepairingBreaking a Pickford Girl

_**Michelle-Note:** __Hell has frozen over - I updated this. Brace yourselves for the Apocalypse (if I have any readers left). I'm going to finish up this load of rubbish in the next week or so and then - MY GOD - I am going to write the third installment!!111! Sorry for the exceptionally long wait, and for a shitty chapter (not worth the years of waiting, I promise)! I'm just trying to get this thing over with because I have amazing ideas...once I can progress the plot to that point. Expect another update within a few days, which will include plot-twists and death and angst (because I wrote myself into a corner). Oh, and I'd recommend re-reading everything because otherwise...confusion. I was confused about my own story._

Chapter 22: Repairing/Breaking a Pickford Girl

Ruby: Stevens' House, living room, Sacramento: 4:14pm: 20 June

Louis made churros, which were sort of like chupacabras, but less dangerous, and they didn't terrify Miranda. We all sat around in the Stevens' living room attempting to piece together what had happened. Tawny left, of course, she wasn't included in the "we all." She wouldn't stop being a Bitter Betty…or is it Negative Nancy? Both? Doesn't matter. I gave up on her and Ren. Their interactions today were nothing short of hella awkward. You've gotta know when to quit.

Tawny left our company shortly after we got out of the woods, under the pretense that she was cooking dinner for her dad.

Apparently, Phil went over to the Stevens' to remedy some problem with peanut butter and Claire…something about Claire sandwiches? Claire was a jar of peanut butter? Then Gordo agreed to walk with Phil back to Tawny's because he needed to talk to Tawny. I'm not sure about what – I wasn't really listening, or maybe he didn't say. I'm a horrible friend and I was dwelling on the Ren and Tawny disaster since the missing Gordo disaster was not longer a disaster.

The two boys ended up at the park, where they were minding their own business on the nature trails when they heard noises. They went to investigate. Apparently, they stumbled upon Claire and Larry, which startled them, which in turn startled Gordo and Phil. In this process, Phil dropped the thing called the Wizard, Larry fled the scene with amazing speed and Claire's clothes, and naked Claire picked up the Wizard. She then began flailing it wildly and somehow turned Gordo into a tree and then she ran away with the gadget, naked and screaming. She was naked, so she couldn't leave the woods, and she hid the Wizard, then tried to find her clothes, but then Kate found the Wizard or something along those lines. Phil panicked, the Wizard having fallen into the wrong hands. He fell down the hill, getting all mangled and knocking himself out at the bottom. After regaining consciousness, he realized what happened, panicked again, and came back to Tawny's after I had left with Keely.

Phil is from the future. Keely is not from the future. Keely is just from Pickford. That was a fun surprise for all of us that didn't know. We were now all sworn to secrecy. We had a fun little secret club sort of thing, which was vaguely exciting.

Now everything is fine, I guess. Everyone is in one piece. Well…except Ren and Tawny, so I guess everyone is in the original state they were in, so as fine as it could be.

"What happened to Claire?" I asked, "She was naked in the woods."

Everyone looked at one another. Kate shrugged and said with a malicious sort of apathy, "Someone'll find her eventually. Hopefully Larry will find her and give her clothes back."

"I'm glad Gordo is ok…" Lizzie muttered sleepily with her head in Kate's lap.

"Obviously." Gordo laughed and Kate patted the blonde on the head.

Louis bit into a churro and chewed loudly, the only sound in the silence that followed. Everyone seemed tired, or confused by Phil being from the future like me.

"We need to get home," Keely said suddenly, and got to her feet, "_Home_ home. I think we've caused enough trouble in Sacramento…"

"Oh, yes. I suppose. Back to boring old Pickford," Phil agreed, reluctantly, "We need to go say goodbye to Tawny and thank her for letting us stay."

"Yeah."

Ren got up at the mention of Tawny, saying, "It was nice to meet you two. Have a safe trip back. I'm going to go read now that the missing Gordo crisis is averted…I also need to start packing for college…"

"You don't leave for another month and a half…" Her brother pointed out.

"I need to make a list." She said and sulked upstairs without another word.

"Weirdo…" He mumbled, "I don't know why she's being so unfriendly."

I knew, so did some others. Kate and Miranda both looked at her as she went up the stairs, and then looked at each other with a sigh.

Twitty shook Phil's hand and gave him a manly hug, smacking him on the back, "You're cool, dude. I'm heading home." He then turned to Keely, "You're hot. Call me."

She squinted at him, "Yeah…ok."

Beans made a ridiculous peace sign gesture and followed Twitty out.

"I don't have his number…" Keely pointed out, confused.

"It was a metaphor." Louis said through a churro.

"For what?" I asked curiously.

Louis shrugged, and everyone looked dumbfounded for a brief moment, except Lizzie, who just looked like she was sleeping.

"Bye, you two…" She muttered, as if cued by my thoughts. She didn't even open her eyes, "I'm exhausted…

"Wait a minute, you can't leave yet, Keely," I protested, "You have to do your research for that article."

"Oh…yeah…about that…" She cleared her throat.

"You're backing out on me!" I squealed unintentionally and pointed.

She shook her head, embarrassingly, "Yeah…I'm gonna go…and well…not do that."

"Hmph." I crossed my arms.

Louis looked confused for a moment then went back to his churro consumption and television.

"Can you choose who you like?" Kate asked Keely.

"Well…no." She answered.

"Neither can I. It just happens to be that Lizzie is a girl."

"Oh…" Something clicked in her head, it seemed, "What's wrong with it then?"

Kate rolled her eyes, "I'm not sure…you're the one that thought there was something wrong with it."

"I didn't think you really liked her…in the way that I like boys."

Everyone looked at her, and I was the first to speak, "That's it? It was that easy to make her understand? Are you serious?!"

Everyone looked at me after that, and I glared.

Louis piped up again, "Any of your ladies going to make out now? That'd be cool."

His comment was ignored, and then Gordo stood and said, "Well…I still need to talk to Tawny, so I'll walk with you guys over there. We won't go by the park this time and I should be back in time for dinner."

Goodbyes were said. Some hugs were given. Keely, Phil, and Gordo headed out to go to Tawny's, and then I went upstairs to talk to Ren – one last time. I found her in her room, of course, and she was, in fact, making a list.

"Seriously? A list?" I shouldn't have been surprised.

"Yeah. I need to prioritize the important things." She didn't look up from her desk.

I plopped down on her bed, "I'm about to go home, but before I left I wanted to talk to you about-"

"Would you leave it alone?" She turned and looked at me, "It's done. She doesn't want to be friends with me. She doesn't want to try."

"I wasn't even going to say anything about Tawny." I lied.

"Bullshit. I lost one of my best friends because I was too oblivious and focused on myself. I give up. I'm leaving soon enough. We'll be on opposite sides of the country. I'm going to need to focus on my education." She rambled.

"Ok! Ok!" I tossed my arms up in surrender, "You're right. You're always right, Ren."

She turned around again, and went back to her list, "Why'd you hit her?"

"She was being stupid."

"Fair enough," she sighed. "I was really worried about Gordo."

"Me too."

"So why did you hit Tawny?"

"She didn't want to help look for Gordo because she didn't want to be around you." I probably shouldn't have said that, but it just popped out.

"Seriously?" She turned to look at me again, "I can't believe she would be that selfish. He could have died…or well…lived as a tree for the rest of his life…" She seemed angry.

"Well…I hit her in the face and gave her a good talking to, and then she came."

"That was what I needed," She went back to her list yet again, "Thanks Ruby."

"Huh?" I was confused.

"I need to work on my list." She said with no feeling.

"K…" I went home.

That was it. Ren and Tawny were done. I also wouldn't get my one night of passionate, meaningless lesbian sex…

_**Michelle-Note #2:** __I hate the way I portrayed Keely in this. I regret it substantially (but it seemed like an interesting twist at the time) as Keely is one of my favorite Disney characters of all time. I will one day write a PotF fic where Keely is done justice. Alas._


	23. The Night Before

_**Michelle-Note: **__I'm ridiculously prolific lately, and by prolific I mean unemployed and I have nothing to do besides sit around and write fanfiction focusing on shows that no longer exist, while watching new Disney shows for hours on end. This is another lame chapter, but it's sort of deep...maybe._

Chapter 23: The Night Before

Tawny: Dean House, Tawny's room, Sacramento: 11:57pm: 26 June

I couldn't sleep…

But then again, I hadn't really slept in days, so it wasn't a new development per se. It had been six days since the incident where Gordo was turned into a tree. It had been six days since Phil and Keely left. It had been six days since I last saw Ren. It had been six days since I spoke to anyone other than my father. It had been six days since I left the house…

Dear God, I was turning into one of _those_ girls. Disgusting. Absolutely fucking revolting.

I didn't want to risk running into anyone, and subsequently risk having to talk to them about how I was doing. I didn't want to have to fake it. I didn't want to have to lie. My dad begged me to get out, to do something. Anything. I refused.

I was exhausted, but I couldn't sleep. I had been lying in bed for two hours, going over everything in my head…over and over. It made me nauseous, which further contributed to my inability to sleep.

I swear I didn't want to be one of those girls. I didn't want to be like this. I wanted to be ok. I wanted to sleep and to eat and to talk to people again. I wanted to see Louis and Twitty, and shit…even Ruby. Most of all, I wanted to see Ren, but thinking about her resulting in my inability to sleep…so I was in a bit of a bind there, wasn't I?

I hated this. I disgusted myself.

This wasn't me. This was not Tawny. This was some pathetic idiot trapped in my body.

I don't let things affect me like this…

But something went wrong…somewhere…but where?

I couldn't figure it out. No matter how much I thought about it. No matter how many hours I'd lie awake, and no matter how many hours I'd lie awake after waking up completely nauseated. I couldn't figure out the error. I couldn't figure out anymore at what point it was that _I_ decided _I_ couldn't be friends with her. At what point did I become incapable of putting on a front?

The phone rang and I looked at the clock.

In a matter of minutes it would be tomorrow. It would be the twenty-seventh.

That was the day Lizzie and everyone would be leaving. I couldn't just let them all leave without saying goodbye. They had been my friends too. I was going to have to leave the house, and it horrified me.

I had ignored so many calls from so many people. I had refused to come to the door. I had my dad cover for me time after time…

I was sure I had driven away the friends that I didn't want to drive away. This was ridiculous. I was such an idiot.

I heard a knock on my door, and then a moment later it crept open, but just a crack. A tiny sliver of light formed across my floor and then onto my bed. I looked away and pretended to be asleep. I was tired of the talks from my dad. He was right. He had been right all along, but I hated not being right so much that I couldn't bear to admit that I was wrong.

"Tawny…are you awake?" My dad whispered, but in such a way that it was only a whisper in tone, not volume.

I ignored him.

"Tawny?" He called out again, "Someone's on the phone for you…"

"No." I muttered, and pulled my comforter up over my head.

He sighed, and said into the phone, "She's already asleep. Won't wake up. Out like a light." He wasn't remotely convincing. He shut the door and I heard him say through my door, "Yes, she's awake. Yes, I'm lying."

It felt like forever, but I finally heard him go back down the stairs.

A moment later, I heard him come back up the stairs, and then he paused before opening my door completely and showering me with light.

I rolled onto my back and squinted, "What?"

"This is it, Tawny."

"Huh?"

"This isn't you. You know it."

I hesitated, "I know…I hate it."

"Tomorrow you will leave this house. Just because you don't want to be friends with Ren, it was no reason to abandon everyone that cares about you. Let go of your stupid pride. She doesn't like you. The end."

I had never heard my dad be so harsh with anyone, so I just lie there and looked at him.

He continued, "Get over it, Tawny. Move on. You have a life. You are an extremely capable young woman."

"I'm trying."

"You're not. You're not trying anything. You're lying around and avoiding everything. You're not trying at all."

"I am."

"No, you're not. Don't argue with me. This is absurd. Try."

He was right. I rolled over and pulled the comforter over my face again to block out the light.

I heard my door close, and it became darker.

I wasn't trying. I never tried.

What I was doing was dwelling…trying to find out what happened…when what happened didn't matter…because it wouldn't fix anything. I couldn't go back and take back my decision to stop being friends. I couldn't go back and not fall for Ren. I couldn't go back and do anything any different.

I needed to say goodbye to Gordo, Lizzie, Miranda, and Kate…

Oh, and Matt.

I could not let my fucking selfishness get in the way of anything else like it almost did when Gordo was missing.

Shit! Ruby was right. I hated to think that even more than I hated my dad being right.

I _would_ say goodbye.

Suddenly, I sat up in bed, took a deep breath, and went to my door. Opening it quietly, I stepped into the light in the hall. It seemed abnormally bright. I crept downstairs, and peeked over the railing. My dad was sitting in his chair with his glasses on sorting through some paperwork. He was usually in bed by now.

"Dad…" I said, and went the rest of the way into the living room.

He looked over his glasses up at me, "Yes?"

"You're right."

He nodded and looked back at the paper in his hands.

I shuffled over to the couch and sat down, tugging at my pajamas nervously, "Who was on the phone?"

"Louis." He answered.

I sighed.

I watched him as he looked up at me again, then back at the paper. He handed it to me after a moment, "Take a look."

"What is it?" I asked, looking at the sheet that was a series of tick marks and the names of my friends.

"I've been keeping a tally of how many times your friends call for you and come over. This doesn't count the calls on your cell phone that you've had turned off for days." He pointed to some numbers to the side, "These are the days that all of these took place."

"I don't know why they'd keep trying…" I mumbled.

"Because trying…" He leaned back, "Trying is all we can do…in the end."

"I haven't been trying."

He took off his glasses and sat them on the table among the paperwork, "I've studied you since you were a tiny child. I've treated you like an experiment. A precious experiment, but an experiment no less." He sighed, "And I watched you build all of these walls to protect yourself, and then I saw them come down, and holy shit, Tawny…if you didn't build up more elaborate walls in their place in record time."

"Huh?"

"You're a smart girl, and that's why you've done this. You're trying to save yourself. You're disregarding everyone around you…"

"I'm sorry…"

"Everyone has walls. Mine is my work. I make things into work that shouldn't be…like you. It's easier this way though." He sighed again.

I'd never heard my father sigh so many times. He was always so chipper. I'd brought him down. I was his experiment and I felt like I failed, "I don't really know what you mean."

"Just think about it," he got up and pushed the papers in my direction, "This is your file." He yawned and stretched, "And it's time for me to get to bed. I have to be in the office early tomorrow for conference crap, and you had better not be in this house when I get home."

"What time are you coming home?"

"I don't know, but you had better not be here."

I eyed him, "Are you kicking me out?"

He looked confused, shook his head and started up the stairs before saying, "No…"

I grabbed up the stack of papers and put them into the folder resting beneath them. This was too much for me. I was sleep deprived, and tired of thinking. I spent every waking moment thinking. I missed Phil and Keely…they had distracted me, and now they were gone. I hadn't heard from either of them, and I had no motivation to call them…maybe it was because I'd turned my phone off…I didn't check my email…I did nothing.

I stopped trying.

I realized then that it was me I was trying to avoid…or at least the me I had become somehow when I wasn't paying attention.

I would get better. I would be ok.

But I needed to try…

I needed to find a new distraction…

_**Michelle-Note #2:** __TEMPORARY INSANITY ROCKS!!11!1!!!1!_


	24. Gordo, Etc Finally Go Home

_**Michelle-Note:**__ Two updates in a day?! I told you I was prolific. This chapter is REALLY crappy. I'm honestly just trying to get this storyline done with so I can start a new and more amazing one. LOOK AT ME BUILDING ANTICIPATION._

Chapter 24: Gordo, Etc. Finally Go Home

Lizzie: Sacramento Airport, some terminal, Sacramento: 10:15am: 27 June

I hugged Ren, "Thanks so much for having us…and for so much longer than planned, and-"

"No problem." She cut me off.

I didn't let her go. Part of me didn't want to leave. Sacramento had been so much more magical than I thought it would be, "And I had an awesome time. This was the best summer ever, and…" But some pretty shitty things happened too, "And I'm sorry we caused so much drama."

"Totally ok. You gotta let go of me now though."

I did as she said. She and Louis came to see us all off and put us on the plane. The Stevens parents cooked us an amazing breakfast. Mrs. Stevens slipped something to Gordo before we left and whispered something in his ear that sounded like it had to do with fried chicken and something. I didn't ask. I can't believe they put up with the bunch of us mooching off of them for as long as they did. They were the most awesome parents in the world.

Gordo was next. He latched onto his cousin saying, "Good luck at Princeton. Keep in touch. I'll let you know how Dartmouth is, and we can get together sometime when we aren't busy studying."

"I can't believe they're excited about studying…" Kate whispered in my ear.

"Dude, you're not the long lost mysterious cousin David anymore," Louis said and grabbed him as soon as he let go of Ren, "We found you, and our families had better be getting together for some sort of holiday soon."

"I agree," Ren laughed.

Gordo did some sort of manly slap thing on Louis' arm, "I'll try, and thinks again for housing me and my friends for so long."

"Our parents love you guys. Seriously." Ren assured us all.

"Bye, little buddy." Louis said to Matt. They had gotten into surprisingly little trouble to my surprise.

Some more hugging and laughing happened. Followed by some random reminiscing about the events that had occurred during our stint in the random California city.

I looked at Kate and made a sad face, "It sucks that we didn't get to see Tawny…"

"Yeah." She agreed.

Ren cleared her throat awkwardly.

"What the hell happened with you two, sis?" Louis asked. He still somehow had no idea, "She's not talking to me either, and I keep calling her to do stuff."

She shrugged.

"Oh God, just tell him." Kate snapped, "Or even better, just talk to her."

"I tried. She wouldn't. I gave up."

"You guys seemed ok the day Gordo was changed into a tree-"

I elbowed her in the ribs, "That's something you can't say out loud."

She caught her breath, "Oh yeah."

Miranda picked up where Kate left off, "You two were a little awkward, but it wasn't like…you know…totally awful."

"Look, it's done. I give up. She's not who I thought she was."

"Who? Tawny?" Louis had been distracted by something, "What happened? You guys were a little weird in the woods that day that Gordo was turned into-"

Ren elbowed him in the stomach this time, "That's a secret."

"Yep." He gasped.

"We've gotta go get our bags on the plane and head out." Gordo said with a sigh, "Thanks again."

"Yeah, thanks." I added.

Miranda nodded and was the first to pick up her bags and start walking.

"Hey…Miranda," Louis called after her, "Give me a call if you're ever around."

She blushed, nodded, and kept going. I think she gained momentum because of her huge bags and couldn't stop easily…physics…one of those laws of motion or whatever. We all followed her. As we approached the baggage check, I was the last in line and I looked back and waved, as the two went back out to their mom's SUV. It was the only car that would fit all of us plus all of our crap in it.

An obnoxious beep sounded as Miranda walked under the metal detector. Gordo snickered a bit, as she glared, and the attendants began to search her person for weapons and the like. They couldn't seem to find anything, but she still kept making the alarm go off. This made up all laugh and made her get increasingly frustrated.

Kate gently grabbed onto my arm, "Hey, wait…"

"What's up?" I looked back, and followed her pointing finger to the entrance to the terminal.

"Is that…" She started.

"Tawny?" I questioned.

"Where?" Gordo asked, turning back too. Matt followed suit, but Miranda was busy being searched.

In a moment, we had all stopped and stared back at the scrawny pale girl. She had tucked one hand into her jeans pocket and with the other she waved unsurely. She wore a navy hooded sweatshirt unzipped over a tee. After pausing to process the situation, we all waved back unsurely as well.

She tucked her other hand in her pocket and swaggered toward us cautiously.

Kate was, of course, the first to speak, "I called you-"

"Sixteen times in the past six days…I know. That doesn't count calling my cell." She looked ashamed, then turned to me, "You called ten times."

"Did I?" I questioned.

"Yeah…my dad kept track." I started to open my mouth to ask why, but she waved her hand and said, "It's weird. Don't worry about it."

"What've you been doing?" Gordo asked her.

She shrugged, "Feeling sorry for myself." She sighed, "I totally fucked up…and I'm sorry."

"Well…I'm glad you came to say goodbye." Kate said.

"I couldn't just let you leave…after everything."

I dropped my bags and hugged her, squishing her arms to her sides, "Bye."

"Alright Lizzie, that's enough." She groaned, "I just came to say goodbye not get all huggy and mushy."

"Fair enough." I conceded.

"So you guys have a good flight, have fun in college and whatnot, and Matt, have fun in school." Matt chortled in response, and she shrugged again, "I'm not really good at stuff like this."

"I'm in!" Miranda yelled from behind us, having finally been permitted to pass through the metal detector.

"Bye, Tawny." Matt took his bag through with no problem.

"See ya," Gordo waved a little and passed through also.

I went through as well, and Kate hung back for a second. I watched, thankful that she wasn't holding anyone up.

"I fucked everything…with Ren…then with my friends…" Tawny ran her hands through her hair and shook her head, dejectedly.

"I'm the Queen of Fuck-ups, and everything's ok now." Kate smiled, "I fucked up like…five years of my life, and you just sorta fucked the last few weeks."

Tawny made a concerned face, "Knock on wood."

"Come on, Kate," I said.

"Do you think Louis'll talk to me if I call?" Tawny asked her, as she signaled to me that she was on her way.

Kate nodded, "I'm sure, but I've gotta go get on this plane."

"Bye…" Tawny muttered as she walked away backwards.

I waved to her again then Kate came and put her hand on the small of my back and pushed me forward.

Then we left Sacramento.


	25. Well

_**Michelle-Note:** __Three updates?! One after another?! I've lost my grip on humanity! Oh noes!!!_

Chapter 25: Well…

Kate: Sanders house, kitchen, Hillridge: 3:54pm: 28 June

My parents weren't home. They were never home. I didn't bother to even call them and tell them I'd be coming back way later than anticipated. Did they care? No. They didn't notice. I hadn't even been home a whole day yet. I did some laundry, and ate some leftover takeout from the refrigerator, and then just sat at the bar twiddling my thumbs. I couldn't wait to get away from here. I'd be off to Western Oregon University with Lizzie and Miranda in a little over a month.

The doorbell rang, and I wondered who it could possibly be. Probably UPS or something dropping off some crap for my parents. I hopped down from the high stool, and shuffled my way to the door in my ultra-soft pajamas.

I opened the door to find not anyone from the UPS, not anyone from FedEx, but instead Lizzie. Not just Lizzie, but Lizzie and a suit case. Her car was parked out front with more things packed inside it, and she looked as if her dog died, but she didn't have a dog. I failed to make any sort of connection between the bits of information I was given.

She just stood there and stared at me, her eyes bloodshot, and hands shaking. She dropped the suit case and collapsed into me in a mess of tears.

"Lizzie?" I put my arms around her as it seemed the correct response, but I really had no idea what to do.

"My parents…kicked me out…" She muttered.

I gasped, "What happened?"

"What do you think happened?!" She yelled, and sobbed at the same time.

"I don't know…" I had no idea. We had just gotten home.

She looked up at me, "Did you know I have a sister? An older sister."

I shook my head. It was news to me, and I still could find no connection.

"Neither did I."

"Huh?"

"They pretend she doesn't…exist…never existed. It was years ago before Matt was born, when I was too young to know much of anything…"

I held her nearly limp body in my arms, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how I'm no longer part of the McGuire family because…because of you!" She said, clinging to me, which made me confused as to whether or not she was angry with me.

"Me?"

"Yes! You!"

"Are you blaming me for this? Are you mad? I'm confused."

"No…no…not blame. You're just the reason."

"That's sort of blaming me, Lizzie…" I held her tighter.

She finally hugged me back, "All of the stuff I could get is in my car…I don't know what to do."

"You can stay here…don't worry." I tried to console her.

"But your parents…"

"They probably won't notice."

She took a deep breath, "It's only a little while before we leave for school anyway…I won't get in the way…or eat much…or-"

"You're good, I promise. Do you want some Chinese food?"

She pulled away from me, "Chinese food?"

"Yeah…it's sort of all we have." I wiped her tear-stained cheeks, "My parents usually eat out, and I haven't been home, so…"

"I'm ok."

"So why'd you…you know…tell your parents?" I asked, closing the front door and holding her hand.

"I didn't…Matt did." She said disheartened. She had stopped sobbing uncontrollably at least.

"That dick." I would punch him in the face the next time I saw him.

"No, no, no." She corrected, "It wasn't like that. He just told them…and then they flipped out. I don't wanna talk about it."

"Ok. So…" I began, "Why didn't you go to Miranda's…or Gordo's?" She eyed me, and I thought she might start yelling. "Not that I don't want you here…" I recovered, "I just…they're your best friends, and…"

She shrugged, "I don't know…you're just the first person I thought of…since…" She sniffled, "Since you're the reason."

"I'm really sorry…" I guided her carefully toward the couch, "I just have no idea what to do…"

"I don't know what I want you to do." She leaned her head onto the back of the couch and covered her eyes with her arm, "I'm sorry…"

"It's ok." I moved closer to her and placed my hands on her waist. Slowly and carefully I leaned forward and kissed her neck. I kissed her more passionately and felt her body press into mine. I moved my hands up and felt her ribs beneath her shirt.

Suddenly she gasped, "I have no idea how to do this."

"Do what?" I asked, looking into her eyes.

"Um…girls."

"Huh?"

She tried to repress a laugh, "I can see why you got held back in Kindergarten."

"What?" I pulled away.

"I'm sorry." She smiled.

"Well…I'm glad you're smiling at my expense."

She laughed. "I'm sorry," she apologized again, "I just…I don't know how to…you know…with girls."

"Well, I don't know either." I crossed my arms.

"I can't believe I got kicked out of my house for fucking girls when I haven't even done it. I may not like it. I might suck," she rattled off with frustration before abruptly getting to her feet, "I want some water."

"Kitchen," I told her, "I'm going upstairs."

"K, I'll be there in a minute."

I trekked up to my bedroom, thinking about having sex with girls. How hard could it be? I lay down on my bed and flipped on the television. Lizzie stepped in with a glass of water and closed the door behind her.

"I haven't been in your room since we were in like fifth grade." She observed, "There are more pictures of shirtless men than I remember."

"Yeah…well…"

Lizzie sat her glass on the nightstand and lay down next to me. She propped up on her elbow and put her other arm around me, "I'm tired and sad."

Not knowing what to say, I looked at her and made a sad face. In response, she snuggled up close to me. I heard some noises downstairs, but ignored them. I figured it was the icemaker.

"Kate, honey! Are you here?!" My mom yelled up the stairs.

I winced, "And now she realizes I exist…" I hopped out of bed. "What's up, mom?" I shouted as I opened my door, "You're home early."

"No. I realized I forgot my adapter for my computer," she said from downstairs.

I leaned over the banister, "So what's up? Do you want me to go to the grocery store tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that'd be good." She said rummaging through things in the kitchen, "Now I've lost my keys…whose car full of shit is parked on the street in front of our house?"

"Lizzie's," I answered.

"Have her move it around behind the hedge so no one can see it. It's sort of an eyesore."

"Ok, I will."

"Oh, and there was something else…" Her voice was sort of muffled. She moved to the hallway. "Claire's mom called…said something about…you and someone named Jizzy…or was it…Fizzy? Something. I don't know. You know I hate that woman. She was ranting and raving, and I wasn't really listening. Doesn't matter. Make sure you use a condom, and I won't tell your dad. Have a good night, dear," her voice faded more and more until I was certain she was yelling from outside. "Make sure you get some milk tomorrow and those figs that I like!"

I ran back up the stairs, "Lizzie! My mom wants you to move your car, and she said to make sure we use a condom."

She poked her head out of my door, "Seriously?"

I nodded and laughed, "I told you it'd be fine."

_**Michelle-Note #2:** __Ha. You thought there'd be lesbian sex, didn't you? Too bad. I wasn't in the mood, so I had to have some interruptions. If I'm not getting any, neither are these silly characters. But if I am getting some...I don't really write fanfics now do I? What a predicament!_


	26. The End! Again!

_**Michelle-Note:** __Yes, this is the end. And I didn't even have to kill anyone off......yet! *gasp*_

Chapter 26: The End! Again!

Ren: Stevens' House, kitchen, Sacramento: 6:32pm: August 15

Tomorrow. Tomorrow was it. In the morning I'd be leaving for a cross-country quest to Princeton. I was going all alone. My parents weren't even helping me to move…said it would build character. I'd already loaded up my silly Jeep with everything that I thought would matter, except my toiletries, which were going in tomorrow. Tomorrow.

Tomorrow everything would change. I'd be leaving everything I know. Everything I'd grown so fond of and been used to…I wouldn't be in my comfort zone anymore. I'd have to readjust. The thought made me feel like I was going to have a panic attack, so I decided not to think about it for the time being.

I sat down for dinner with the family. Even Donnie had come to see me off. This wasn't helping to stop me from thinking about tomorrow…

"Why don't you invite Tawny? I haven't seen her in so long," Mom said, absently. Also clueless.

Louis motioned for her to be quiet, but she clearly missed the hint.

"She's busy." I said, and began scooping salad onto my plate.

"Oh." She shrugged.

"Ruby and Twitty are coming over tonight. We're gonna hang out, watch some movies…whatever," I told her, "After dinner."

"That's good."

So much for me not thinking about leaving. She was going to cry tomorrow. She was going to create some huge scene in our driveway, disturb the neighbors, and embarrass me during my last moments in Sacramento. I needed to mentally prepare for it.

I passed the salad on to Louis, who took it upon himself to say, "I think I'm going to miss you, sis."

"Oh, shut up." I turned to dad, "Pass the bleu cheese, please."

"Be nice to Louis," he said as he handed me the bottle.

"Dad, he tortured me for most of my life."

"Yeah. I guess you're right. How's the salad, Eileen?"

"Excellent." Mom answered.

"College is sweet," Donnie commented, "The parties…the parties…the not living at home…the women…"

I looked at him like he didn't know me at all.

Louis snorted, "Ren…party. She didn't even party at her own party."

"I did," I protested.

"Be nice to Ren," dad said.

After the salad and forced conversation, mom brought out the main course. Asparagus, mashed potatoes, garlic bread, and a turkey. It was like a miniature Thanksgiving…all because I was driving across the country in the morning.

Oh God…tomorrow.

In the morning.

As I was attempting to take a bite of mashed potatoes, mom asked as clueless as always, "Why don't you invite Tawny over after dinner?" Louis' head fell, and he again motioned for her to be silent, but she didn't notice until too late. Her focus shifted to him, "Is something the matter, Louis?"

He looked up innocently, "No. Why?"

"You keep making erratic jerking motions…"

Dad and Donnie continued eating obliviously, making content noises.

Louis shrugged and shook his head, "Must be unconscious…or epilepsy?"

She continued to eye him, but seemed to accept his response. She looked back at me and I swallowed my mashed potatoes forcefully before she said, "Did you and Tawny have some sort of tiff? She hasn't been over here in several months." Then she looked back at Louis, "Did _you_ do something?"

"What?! Me?! No. Tawny still talks to me." He said with shock and dismay.

Mom shook her fork at me, "But she doesn't still talk to you?"

"What? Why is this relevant?" I had pushed the girl far to the back of my mind over the past few weeks and completely focused on packing and preparing for college life…memorizing the campus map and the names of the library staff and important things of that nature.

"It's not, I guess. Not my business. I liked Tawny is all, and just noticed she hadn't been around…"

It was like she knew things she shouldn't know and she was trying to pry them out of me. Moms have a way of knowing things and then prying, but I wouldn't give in. I said, "We weren't that good of friends anyway. She was Louis' friend."

Louis nodded in agreement, but couldn't speak due to a mouthful of food that, for once, he didn't try to just talk through.

"That's not true." Donnie decided to participate in the conversation, "You two were like BFFs."

"BFFs?" Dad piped up, "Is that some of that internet talk? Boy…friend…fondue?"

Louis snickered and forked another huge slice of turkey into his mouth.

I bit into my bread, hoping everyone would get distracted. I even prayed for a brief moment.

And then, as if God decided to give a rat's ass, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" I announced joyously, wiping my hands and running from the room.

Before I even completely got the door open, Ruby burst through, "Oh my God!"

"What's wrong?!" I asked frantically, thinking something horrible had happened.

She waved a magazine in front of me so quickly that I couldn't even imagine seeing what it was, "This is so exciting and relevant to you that I couldn't wait until after dinner to tell you!"

I assumed there was no horrible accident, and I glared at her, although I was grateful she interrupted the Tawny-themed conversation of my family dinner, "What?"

"Guess who is going to Princeton with you?!"

"Who?!" I asked her with faux-enthusiasm, and I even waved my arms.

"London Tipton!" She yelled and shoved the magazine in my face.

I squinted at it. It was some celebrity magazine featuring the thin, over-sexed brunette on the cover with the article title: Princeton Get Ready to Party: London Going to College. I don't know why this was supposed to interest me and I pushed it aside, "Is that…the girl…whose dad owns the Tipton hotels…the one that is famous for absolutely no reason? Didn't she get arrested with cocaine in her pocket a few months ago?"

"Oh my God! Yes! You need to let me meet her!"

This went over my head, "Ok…because only the two of us will be at Princeton together, and she's certain to want to be friends with me…and I am highly inclined to hang out with people who have cocaine in their pockets. Right. I'll do that for you because you're my best friend."

"Ruby, would you like some dinner?" My mom called from the kitchen, "There's enough to feed an army in here!"

The End

_**Michelle-Note #2:** __London Tipton?! What?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?! Exactly! It means I have incorporated yet ANOTHER Disney show into this cesspool of lesbianism fanfiction. I bet you can guess who I'm pairing her with too........NOW YOU HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT!!!_


End file.
